Covenant Eva
by WinterRonin
Summary: Nearly two years after the defeat of Albert Simon, Shinji is living in Japan with his daugther Arisu, and Misato. Yuri meanwhile is drowning in grief after the death of Alice, after her burial he moves to a small village in France. Just in time to fight the German army who tries to march through the village, with a certain red head in their ranks. Rating MAY go up. Dunno yet.
1. Chapter 1

Well this is a little later then I wanted it to be but at least its up. Been a little busy and been trying to find some extra income, this will be updated slowly at first but it will get speeded up along the line.

First off this will follow the main story line of the game itself, with a few minor changes but nothing that effect the story itself, well in my opinion anyway. The main bad guys still die, in the same places as well.

And secondly the layout of the story is one of the reasons this has taken so long to finish, and im still not a hundred percent done, but I will be checking and re-checking before I put it up to make sure it fits in with the other chapters. Its over a hundred and sixty pages so far so it's a lot to check through.

* * *

It has been a year and a half since the start of the first world war and with it comes suffering and grief.

Shortly after returning from visiting Japan and Shinji and Misato, who now have a young daughter Arisu, Alice fell ill. He tried everything he could think of before sending for Roger who was the only one he could trust with her healing her as the other doctors had no idea what was wrong with her. Even though he hurried as fast as he could, Roger was too late in the end and she passed away before he could arrive.

Yuri couldn't blame Roger, he blamed himself partially because he believed he was too slow in contacting the warlock. Roger spent the next few days trying to console the young man but it was in vain, even after the funeral he became increasingly distant towards others.

Travelling to a small village in France where her uncle lives, as he was the only one who attended the funeral besides Roger. The two became friends along with a local wolf, Blanca, who takes an interest in Yuri as the protector of the village, it was an attempt to fill a hole that had been left in his soul.

However the German army unit is set out to secure the village as part of the German advance through France, under command of an fiery red head and another red head a few years younger then her with a matching attitude.

* * *

"So why are we here again?" the younger one asked, "Our men have been disappearing. The survivors speak of a demon attacking them by the church." the old sergeant with them mumbled something about the demon taking the form of a man, "What was that? A demon you say? … please sergeant. I don't believe in such things." Karin said checking the sword at her waist as her companion did the same, "Asuka are you ready?", "Sure thing Karin. Aren't I always?" the Japanese/ German girl smiled as they headed towards the village through a forest path.

Asuka and Karin had met three years ago and had become fast friends even though technically Germany and Japan were enemies in the grand scheme of things it was one of those things that didn't effect things too much. The young adult Asuka had arrived in Norway of all places and ditched her plug suit and stole some clothes before heading for Germany to try and figure things out as she went.

Things soon fell into place and she enrolled in the military and met Karin, seeing how she was possibly in an alternate universe she used her real name to enrol and had thought briefly if anyone else had come through after the Angel had swallowed everything.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a beautiful white wolf howling in front of them before walking off, "I wonder what that was all about?", "Well whatever it was about it just warned the villagers we're coming." the old sergeant said keeping his eyes on the surrounding forest as their group headed towards the village. "Any idea on what we're looking for? This demon guardian I mean?", "They said he looked Asian with brown hair and red eyes. He's also very good at hand to hand." the sergeant remembered hearing about seven soldiers being disarmed and knocked out before they even knew they were under attack.

"It isn't him…" Asuka mumbled under her breath, "Your friend right? I'm sure you'll see him again." Karin said trying to cheer her up, "No… Now that I've looked back on things I don't think he'll ever call me friend again. I was horrible to him." Karin didn't say anything to comfort her, she had tried in the past but never was able to help her and had to let Asuka sort herself out.

Making their way through the edge of the forest and into the village they found the place deserted, which surprised them. "Do you think they fled to the church?", "Possible. Sergeant lets spread out and sweep the village on our way to the church." the old man nodded and led the squad through the village as Karin and Asuka took the main path up to the church ahead of them.

It was a quick advance as the soldiers found nothing in the houses on anywhere in the village, "Nothing to report ma'am." the sergeant reported as they gathered outside the church, "Alright. Asuka your with me. Sergeant lets secure the inside of the church. The rest of you secure the outside of the church. Make sure nobody escapes." Karin smiled at the old man as she tied back her hair into a hair ponytail.

They managed to enter the church and the squad began to fan out into the church and began checking every inch of the old building but saw nothing but their fellow soldiers searching inside. Asuka and Karin's head shot around as the doors slammed shut behind them and they soon heard the cracks of rifle fire and men's screams as they tried to open the door, "What the hell!? What's going on? Open the door!" Asuka shouted as she hammered on the thick church door.

It was only when they heard a deep growl that they she stopped trying to open the door, "W-what was that?" Asuka said knowing it wasn't a wolf, it was bigger. "Watch the windows!" Karin ordered as her soldiers looked out of the stain glass windows to try and see what was happening outside, only seeing a black blur knock their fellow soldiers to the ground.

As Karin walked into the centre of the church the stain glass circle window behind her, above the entrance smashed and a mighty figure burst through before retracting its wings, it took a moment for them to realise they were looking at a demon. It's dark skin covered it's body like armour, only leaving two red eyes visible, neither women wanted to get close to the sharp claws on its hands and feet. The demon seemed to look at them with interest even as glass fell onto it and bounced off, "F-fire!" someone shouted as the rifles of the squad began to hit the demon, which also bounced off as if they were made of rubber.

The next few moments where a blur as the demon took off around the church taking out the soldiers after it had smacked Karin and Asuka with its hard skinned hands, knocking them out. However the last thing Karin saw before loosing consciousness was an Asian man in black trousers and jacket begin to walk out the church, she knew he was the demon, but couldn't believe they actually existed.

"Karin! Karin wake up!" she heard Asuka shouting in the darkness, her head felt like a hammer had hit it but slowly opened her eyes and saw the grey sky, and Asuka looking down at her in relief, "Thank god. I thought you weren't going to wake up." she slumped down next to her and helped her sit up, "What happened?", "That thing attacked us. The sergeant pulled us out with two other soldiers…" Asuka looked coldly back at the church with was barely visible through the trees dotted around them, "We're all that survived." Karin couldnt belive that nearly all of her unit had been wiped out.  
After getting helped to her feet by the old sergeant they began to slowly make their way back to their own lines keeping a close eye on the village behind them, they couldnt help but think that the demon wasnt going to actually follow them, but after what had just happened they werent going to take any chances.

* * *

Short i know but this is just to stick it on so people have something. I will remind people that there will be slight changes to the story but its like 90 percent original stuff mostly. I think its pretty good but i'll let you decide once the chapters turn up. Hoping to do it like once a week if i can.


	2. Chap 2: To the Tower

This is a little longer but after this they will be longer, but this is to just get the ball rolling.

I'm currently in the middle of trying to wrestle up some work, I'm really short for cash this month, I have about fifty pounds to last the whole month after I pay off everything that I pay monthly. Sort of sucks.

But anyway on with the story and I don't own Evangelion or Shadow Hearts sadly. If I owned Shadow hearts I would of stopped before the third one.

* * *

Just over a week passed and Karin and Asuka sat in their commanders office, they had been called there after the events at the village came to light.

"Sir. May I ask what this is about?" Karin asked, "Well even though we've bypassed that cursed village we just can't leave it be. And I've voiced that we just can't flatten in with artillery so we've sent for a professional in this particular field." as if on cue there was a knock on the door and the commander called for him to enter.

In walked a handsome man who was in his late twenties to early thirties, wearing a white religious garment with gold trim with a sword with a gold plated hilt, "Greetings from Italy. I came as soon as possible." his charming smile was directed at Karin which caused her to look away with a blush.

"And you are?" Asuka asked not batting an eyelid at the man, "Nicholas Conrad or Nicolai for short, your commander has requested the aid of the Vatican, and I in turn have arrived to assist you.", "And how are you going to do that?" Asuka asked not sounding impressed by the priest.

"In one of our vaults there is an artefact which is protected by ghosts, The Holy Mistletoe, it has the power to banish any demon it is stuck with." Asuka stifled a laugh when she saw the glare that her commander was giving her, "Where is this vault?", "It's a tower located at the Vatican.", "That's in Italy!? We've got to go there and back while our…", "While our forces move around the village, preventing anything from escaping. Our mighty forces will not be stopped by a village of farmers, isn't that right, Lt. Koenig?", "Yes sir." Karin quickly answered, regaining her thoughts.

"You and your Sergeant are to go with Mr. Conrad to retrieve this item, the remains of your unit will be reinforced and stationed around the village to await your return. Understood?", "Yes sir!" both women said, saluted as they turned to leave.

* * *

Asuka wasn't impressed as they headed through the countryside on a train, it was going to take them several days to get there and back and it made her wonder why this Nicolai hadn't just brought the thing with him, instead of feeling her butt go numb by sitting on a rather uncomfortable seat.

"Something wrong Asuka?", "What? Sorry I was drifting off." she looked around their cabin and didn't see a third person, "Where's lover boy?" she asked with a small knowing smile, "What? I don't know what your talking about?", "Oh please. I've seen that look before, your head over heels for him.", "No! I just find him charming that's all." Asuka just smirked as she turned back to looking out the window.

"Anything on your mind?", "It's just that it's been nearly three years… and I still haven't seen anyone else…", "We'll we've barely been out of Germany, the only time we we're was about a year after you arrived. And that was only to England.", "I know it's just that… well as much as it pains me to say this, but I'm scared. I don't know what's out there. It's all so different to what I know.", "Again, that's why you shouldn't of joined the army straight away, you could of gone travelling and get your bearings.", "I wanted to get somewhere I could call home… I didn't know if I was going to be able to go home or not.".

Karin knew that Asuka wasn't exactly a normal person, she had an amazing ability with a sword and somewhat supernatural abilities of her own, but she has a habit of being rather forward with her opinions which led to her often butting heads with some of the other officers.

It took them almost an hour to reach the tower that Nicolai had told them about, and Asuka was glad that she had convinced Karin to bring their swords, the tower looked more like a crazy, evil dungeon.

"This is Apoina tower? It looks like a prison!?" Asuka said pointing to the tower while looking at Nicolai, "It actually was at one point. Home to heretics, murderers, arsonists and other low-life's who have stayed from the path of god." Nicolai explained as they approached the imposing double doors.

"Before we enter I must warn you that there are ghosts and other monsters that inhabit this tower, which is why it is locked and sealed at all times.", "Alright… So why didn't you grab it before you came?" Asuka asked making Karin glare at her for being rude, "Because, being short on manpower, it would be hard for me to do it alone." he said giving the two women, "Besides I would feel much safer with both of you with me." Asuka snorted in disgust clearly not falling for his charms.

Unlocking both the seals and the locks they entered the large tower, seeing a grand staircase twisting up the inside of the tower, ahead of them was a shrine to a saint but they didn't pause to look at it as they followed Nicolai up the staircase. "Just how high up is this… thing we're looking for?", "It's just short of the top floor. And guarded by a familiar if I remember correctly." looking up the stairway they saw a very old man floating down towards them on an old chair, and he was see-through.

Nicolai drew his sword and stepped forwards as Karin and Asuka drew their own, as another two men drifted down behind the first, "One each, how kind of them." Asuka said as the three old men summoned small balls of energy around them, "Be careful ladies." Nicolai warned as he adjusted his footing on the staircase.

Dodging the first ball, Asuka attacked first, using an powerful overhead strike she watched as her sword connected with the old man and smacked him and his chair onto the ground, she followed up with a low thrust as Karin ran hers through several times in rapid succession as Nicolai blasted his away with a blast of holy magic after dodging the attack.

"Well if that's the best that they've got to give us then we've got nothing to worry about." Karin said not putting her sword away in case there were more ghosts ahead, "Indeed we made short work of them didn't we?" Nicolai added, "Let us push on." Asuka glared at him as they started up the stairs once again, she didn't trust him at all.

* * *

Reaching the halfway point of the tower they were glad to find that there was only a few ghosts to keep them occupied but they were easy to dispatch, they did get startled when two man sized statues came to live and attacked them by throwing their heads of all things at them. Narrowly avoiding getting hit by the flying heads they rushed forwards and attacked, taking them out easily as their bodies crumbled away like dust, "Well that certainly was interesting, I never expected them to do that." Nicolai said as he walked up to the large steel gate blocking their progress and grumbled in annoyance.

"What's wrong?" Karin asked, "It's locked and I don't have the key.", "So we're screwed then?" Asuka asked, "No. There is another key somewhere on this floor, I'm sure of it, I just don't know where." Asuka grumbled as she stomped off to try and find the key, leaving Nicolai and Karin by the gate.

"Will she by alright on her own?" he asked, "Yes. She's very independent, and stubborn. She'll find the key." Karin said as she watched Asuka rummage through boxes and alcoves for the key.

"What kind of name is Asuka? It sounds Japanese." Karin's eyes went wide and was glad she had her back to him, "Because it is, her mother was Japanese and her father was German. It was only by chance that she stayed here instead of going to Japan." Nicolai nodded silently but he didn't know if he caught onto the deception on her part. "I see. Oh! Looks like she's found something?" looking more angry then she did when she left she all but shoved the key at Nicolai who fumbled it briefly.

"Next time, pack a spare." she growled as they both saw her eyes flash red briefly before returning to her normal blue eyes, "I'll do that…" he said unlocking the gate and pulling it open enough to carry on up the stairs.

"Asuka can you be a little more polite? He's helping us do this, the least you could do is be a little nicer." Karin asked as she held Asuka back as Nicolai continued up the stairs, "I don't trust him alright?" she hissed, "I don't know why but I just don't.", "Well unless you want to go up against that demon with just a sword then I'd put it to one side until we get this done." nodding reluctantly they quickly caught up with Nicolai who was waiting halfway for them. "Trouble?", "No, just discussing something…" Karin said, "Tell me… The demon you fought. Did you see him turn into anything else?".

"No… We just watched as he turned back into a man and walk out of the church." she said, "Interesting… he has a very unique and rare gift.", "I wouldn't call it a gift." Karin said, not seeing the gift side of being able to turn into a monster at will, "Two sides of the same coin my dear. He might see it as that either, but he clearly uses it to protect those he cares for.".

They stayed silent as they reached the top of the staircase and found themselves standing outside a set of double doors. "Is this it?" Asuka asked, "Yes. Through here is the Holy Mistletoe and it's guardian, though it shouldn't be too hard to deal with." Nicolai said, unlocking the door, "Are you both ready?", "Yes." Karin said keeping her sword at the ready as they pushed the doors open.

Inside was a richly decorated circler room, with a pedestal in the centre with a single wooden box on top of it. "There it is.", "Looks like your guardian is taking some time off." Asuka said as she moved towards the box only to have Nicolai block her path with his sword, "Wait! They turned they're gaze upwards." seeing something with large wings unfurl itself from the ceiling and drop to the ground.

"A gargoyle… wonderful." Nicolai sighed as he tightened the grip on his sword, "Why didn't you warn me!?" Asuka growled at him, "Yes I did though and you chose to ignore me.", "Enough!" Karin shouted not taking her eyes of the gargoyle, "We've got a problem here and it isn't going to just go away.".

Nicolai fired off a blast of holy magic which took the beast by surprise, Asuka and Karin took the opening and both attacked with their swords, leaving two deep wounds across its body, but it managed to recover and try and claw at the two women. The claws tore through the low part of Asuka's coat and she groaned in frustration, "Bastard…" she liked her black leather coat a lot, "Eye's open!" Karin warned as she dodged another swipe from the monster.

Nicolai ran forward and slammed the pommel of his sword into the stomach of the beast before bringing the blade upwards before pushing it into the gargoyle up to the hilt, withdrawing it he twisted as he brought it out, adding to the damage. When it slumped forwards they thought they had beaten it but were surprised when it went to reach out and a ball of dark energy began to form in its hand, "It can use magic! Keep back!" Nicolai shouted.

The narrow blast of dark magic swung over the tops of their heads after they ducked beneath it, which alarmed both Asuka and Karin who hadn't been expecting such an attack, "Ideas?" she asked as she looked at Karin, "Just take it out." Nicolai ran his hand along his sword, engulfing it in a white glow. "That's all I can do for now! Lets hope it works!" as the sword came down in a blaze of holy light it cut through the shoulder of the gargoyle and came out in the arc through its stomach, allowing Asuka to grab Karin's sword out of her hand and jumped forwards bringing them both around in a wide arc she cut through the neck of the beast and separated its head from its shoulders.

"Well that should stop it." Nicolai said in good humour as he cleaned the blood off his sword with a cloth before returning it to its sheath, "Is that all that's meant to be here?" Asuka asked, "No that was the only one. Come, lets be on our way." Nicoali opened the box and nodded to himself upon seeing the contents where still there. "Aren't we allowed to see it?" Asuka asked thinking it was rude that they just went through all that and they weren't even allowed to see it, "Asuka. Let's just go, we've got a long ride back to Germany." Karin said before Asuka could start an argument with the calm priest.

Reluctantly Asuka stopped and began to think about why they weren't allowed to see this special tool for demon exorcisms, but Karin was right about the long ride back, she would sleep on it.

* * *

Arriving back in Germany they made their way to their commander where they were quickly ordered to head onto the village before nightfall. Arriving in the late afternoon they found their old sergeant waiting for them with the remaining members of their old squad and we're giving their orders.

Once again they stood outside the church, their soldiers gathered around it, "Miss Karin it would be best if we alone entered. If your men go in then it would only put them in harms way.", "What about us?" Asuka asked, "We'd be in harms way as well.", "Don't worry. It only takes a moment for the artefact to take effect." the exorcist said with a smile, "Very well Sergeant you have your orders, secure the perimeter." the old man nodded and ordered the others off to watch the area around the church.

* * *

Right here's the next one. Hope its keeping you hooked, Yuri appears in the next chapter and so does Shinji. Maybe.


	3. Chap 3: The Church, Village and Paris

Here we go. Longer then the last two. And a little introduction to the Ikari family, after the trouble in Europe. I will say there maybe a little pause after this one, maybe a week or two just as I go through the story. That and I'm doing extra shifts at work so wont really have the time to update this.

* * *

Yuri sat on the alter of the church holding the cross that Alice had given to him on her deathbed, gripping it tightly he held back the tears that always to threatened to come when he remembered that day. They had just returned from visiting Shinji and Misato who had finally had their child and both were truly happy about it, they had named her Arisu Ikari, when he had asked the meaning of the name Shinji had just grinned at him saying that he would tell him another time. That annoyed him to no end.

About two months after their arrival back at their home Alice soon fell ill with an unknown illness, Yuri tried everything to help her, he couldn't find a doctor that could help her only to remember Roger Bacon. By the time he had reached him and gotten him to Zurich, it was too late. She had passed on, and Roger could see clearly that part of the boy had died that day.

He pocketed the cross as the doors to the church opened, "Remember to be careful." he heard someone say as two red heads entered the church wielding swords along with a man dressed in white, "Karin…" one said looking straight at Yuri as he slowly looked up at them, "Why are you here?" he asked softly, "I'm part of the German army tasked with securing this area. My name is Karin and this is my second in command Asuka." Karin said trying to be peaceful about the whole thing.

Yuri's ears perked up upon hearing the name but didn't say anything, "And why would the German army be interested in this peaceful village?", "I can't tell you that. But we're here to investigate reports of the man who turns into a demon. You match that description.", "Way to be blunt Karin." Asuka said not taking her eyes off the man in front of her.

Yuri reached behind him and pulled out a set of fighting gloves with twin blades attached to each of them, "You know I couldn't care less what your army wants… but I'm not letting any harm come to this village. You caught me in a really bad mood." Asuka knew she shouldn't of said anything but it just slipped out, "Why's that then?", "Because I've lost my wife. And I guess I still haven't gotten over it." he said plainly, putting the gloves on. "Well I must admit this is rather anticlimactic." Nicolai said reaching into his robe, "And you are?" Yuri asked, "Nicolai, an exorcist.".

Yuri just scoffed, "I've met exorcists… and you aren't one." he had met Zhuzhen, Sea-mother and Alice, he knew the feeling one gave off, "What!? How dare you! Insolent demon… or should I say god killer?" Yuri just burst out laughing, "So you know me then?". "Oh yes. The man that killed a god in Shanghai and another in Europe two years ago.", "Sorry but the second one wasn't me, it was my closest friend. But the one in Shanghai was." Yuri grinned as he turned to the exorcist.

Nicolai paused and seemed to be waiting for something as soon the sounds of gunshots were heard, "There's more of you!?" Asuka shouted pointing her sword at Yuri, "No… I work alone." he turned his attention to Nicolai, "But I wonder what he's up to?" the two women turned to him and he started laughing, "To be uncovered so quickly is a little embarrassing though I have to admit I wasn't expecting a mindless thug like yourself to be the one to uncover me.". Asuka and Karin slowly turned to Nicolai, "What are you doing?" Karin asked, "My duty. Now stand there while I end this demon's life." he pulled out the Holy Mistletoe and carefully watched Yuri's movements, "I won't ask what that is but it won't work.", "That's what you think demon." Nicolai charged only for the demon slayer to step back and parry the strike and kick him back.

As Nicolai tumbled along the floor, Karina and Asuka watched on as a large heavily built bald man stepped through the door carrying a large sickle like blade in his hand, flanked by hunched over masked soldiers carrying blades fused to their forearm. "Lenny what took you so long?" Nicolai asked getting up off the ground, "Some old sergeant refused to go down easy. But don't worry its finished." the man said, "What the hell is going on!?" Asuka demanded as she grabbed Nicolai by the scruff of his shirt, only to be slapped away and onto the ground.

Seeing an opening he rushed forward catching Yuri off guard, trying to stab him with the Mistletoe but only managed a glancing blow, however it seemed to take effect as a green light emitted from the shallow wound on his chest, Nicolai cheered in triumph only for Yuri to knock him off his feet again with a powerful uppercut. It was then that everything went black and Yuri collapsed.

* * *

"Wake up dumb ass. You got to get moving!" he heard Shinji call to him as he woke from his sleep, "Shin…?" he groaned waking up, "What was that kid?" an old man wearing a green coat and matching top hat said as he scratched his white beard, "Nothing Gepetto, just hearing voices again.", "Mmm. I was starting to get worry about you kid. You weren't waking up." next to him he saw a snow white wolf with black markings on its head, "Blanca helped drag you here." looking around he saw that they were in a cave, "Where's here?", "A cave just near the edge of the Ardennes. Those two ladies helped carry you most of the way.", "What!? Their part of the army." he said shocked as the old man just shook his head.

"Army isn't interested in us. Another group is, lead by that bald brute and that pretty boy.", "Him… he said his name was Nicolai, said he was an exorcist.", "Well he isn't by the looks of it. They massacred those German soldiers and put some sort of curse on you it seems.".

"We should get going…" he tried to get up but was stopped by a new set of hands pushing him back down, "Sit. You just woke up, try to get your bearings before you stand." Asuka said, "Where's the other one?", "Outside she's keeping an eye out for patrols from those weird bastards." she rested against the side of the cave as she welcomed the warmth of the small fire that was burning.

"Who are you anyway?" Yuri asked, "Asuka Langley Soryu. Part of the German army, I work under Karin.", "Part Japanese too aren't you?" Yuri asked, "Yes…" Yuri didn't push the question upon seeing her face when she answered, "So where do we go from here old man?" Yuri asked turning to Gepetto, "My apartment in Paris would be a good start. We can rest there and plan where to go next.", "Wales… We can go to Wales." Yuri said softly as he stared at the fire.

"Why there?", "My friend Roger… he can help us figure this all out and hopefully find what kind of curse I got now." he hadn't spoken with Roger since Alice's death but didn't hate him for not coming sooner, he had come as fast as possible for him, and was hoping he could get in touch with some of his friends.

"Well Wales it is then, but we still have to go to Paris and then onto a coastal port." Yuri nodded and slowly stood up, it's going to take a few days to reach Paris and its almost nightfall." Yuri said looking out the cave, "Let's go.", "Can we come with you then?" Karin asked walking into the cave, "I guess. But if you do your out of the army. You can bet that those weirdo's will be hunting for you and us since they all but exposed themselves to us." Karin and Asuka looked at each other an nodded, "Fine. We'll tag along until we can assure our safety from whoever they are." Karin said. Together they headed out into the dense forest.

* * *

After thinking that they had gotten lost several times and almost running into the strange clawed soldiers which had attacked the soldiers back at the church, they had managed to reach the edge of the forest closest to Paris but it was getting dark and was getting too dangerous to continue.

Finding a clearing at the base of a cliff they saw that is was the part of an unused logging camp which was deserted due to the war, "At least we can start a fire." Asuka said as she dumped usable wood in front of Yuri who looked like he was in discomfort, "And you want me to do it?", "We're on the run because of you. The least you could do is start a fire." seeing that he couldn't be bothered to argue with her he asked the old man for his matches.

It didn't take Yuri long to start a fire, he had done it enough times, "You alright kid?" Gepetto asked as he watched the younger man pet their resident wolf between the ears, "Whatever that Nicolai bastard hit me with… it feels like something has a tight grip on my soul.", "Well it can't be as bad as that, it was only a glancing blow from what you told me. It might have been a lot worse if it had made full contact.", "I guess your right… I guess getting some sleep might be a good idea right now.".

* * *

Karin was the first to wake up to Blanca's barking, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes she saw he was barking at Yuri who seemed to be in a lot of pain as he slept, "What's wrong!?" she tried to shake Yuri awake but it didn't work, "What's wrong with him?", "It's his power… it's a double edged sword." Gepetto explained as they saw his amulet glow red before erupting in a white light which woke Asuka up.

"What? What was that?" she asked now awake to what was going on, but no one answered when they heard a low hiss from behind them. Looking around they saw a large spider about the size of an rhino, but with a blue and white body and thick brown hairy legs, apart from its size the only thing that was strange about it was the human like face it had, its thick lips exposed two sets of human teeth.

"What the hell is that!?" Asuka shouted drawing her sword as Yuri woke up, "What's with the shouting?" he asked through a yawn as he saw the spider and scrambled back a few feet, "What the hell!?", "Don't bull me! That thing came out of you!" Asuka shouted back at him as Karin helped Yuri to his feet, "Now's not the time for fighting each other!" Gepetto shouted as Blanca jumped forward and dug his teeth into the front leg of the spider.

While he was still shaky on his feet Yuri was able to put on his bladed cloves as Karin drew her sword, Blanca jumped clear before the other leg slammed down on where he was a few moments before, he continued to dart forwards and savagely bite the legs of the giant spider. Giving the others time to get to their feet.

Yuri ran forwards and jumped onto the back of the spider and began to dig the blades into its back with one hand while steadying himself with the other, Asuka and Karin began darting to and fro while slashing at the monsters legs with Blanca as Gepetto stood back and began to gather magical energy.

"Everyone stand clear!" he shouted as a magical circle appeared behind them and the sound of wildlife was briefly heard before a large pillar of green energy slammed into the spider, disappearing as it passed through it, making it let out an unworldly howl of pain from its now distorted features.

"Finish him kiddo!" Yuri nodded and jumped onto the demons head and delivered a powerful overhead punch which forced the blades deep into its skull, forcing Yuri to hold on as it went into its death throws, he jumped off in time to avoid the spider from flipping over onto its back and dissolving in the gentle breeze.

"Well that was interesting…" Yuri panted as he leant on his knee's, "That was your fault! I said that thing came out of you!" Asuka shouted pointing at him with her sword, "I don't know what your talking about!?", "She's right kiddo. Your amulet glowed before that thing appeared… you said it had stopped doing that." Gepetto said with some concern as he sat back down on a discarded log.

"I thought it had… but it must be something to do with that thing I was stabbed with?", "Could be… I have a few old books back at my apartment, once we get there I'll see if I can find anything out about it.", "Cheers. We should be able to get to Paris by tomorrow afternoon if we're lucky.". After waiting to make sure nothing else made an appearance they managed to get some more sleep.

* * *

"Shinji! Where are you!?" he heard Misato call from downstairs, he was currently hiding in a small closet to avoid his duties as a father, "I'm not going to say…" he whispered to himself, "I'm not changing anymore diapers." he stressed as he listened to Misato come up the stairs. Arisu was a blessing sure but he wondered how so much crap could come out such a small girl, he had changed her diaper so many times he had lost count, and she was just over a year old.

She had Misato's features but his blue eyes and she hardly cried which he was glad for, she knew that he liked to sleep in with Misato at times. "Shinji!" he heard her yell again as the door to the room he was hiding in was slammed open, he managed to keep his mouth shut as she looked around the room for him before slowly walking over to the closet he was in.

"Shinji come out of there…" she said softly, sighing he climbed out the closet and stood there, "So you were in there after all." she said surprising him, "You tricked me again…" Misato just smiled as she pulled him out the room and back downstairs where she took him into their room, "Arisu wants to see her daddy." she shut the door behind them leaving Shinji no other route of escape apart from the sliding door and window which Misato was standing in front of as their daughter giggled happily on their bed. "You left her alone?" he asked, "Of course. She's smart enough to know what I mean. Aren't you sweetie?" he watched as Misato rubbed her nose against Arisu's, this made Shinji smile as this was what he had wanted, a family who loved him and who he loved.

"No diaper change then?" he asked, "No. Your safe. But your still giving her a bath." she calmly demanded, which Shinji accepted with a shaky smile. "I'll give her one when I get back. I've got a short job for Kawashima, since Kato is out of the country at the moment.", "She's got you wrapped around her little finger hasn't she?" Misato said not even trying to hide her jealousy.

"Misato… You're the only woman for me. You, Arisu and my mother. And Saki, if she's lurking about here somewhere, are my life. I want to grow old with you, and beat the hell out of anyone who asks Arisu out on a date." the comment made Misato laugh as well as their daughter. "Besides, the money's good and I do sort of owe her for setting us up here.", "I guess…", "I'll be back just after five. So we'll be able to have dinner together.".

"Good. I guess you can give her my best when you see her.", "Never hurts to try and be friends with someone Misato. Look at what happened between me and Rei, we barely talked but we were friends, somewhat.", "Okay. Next time… I'll try to be friendly." Shinji knew she would either forget or just make it obvious that he was pushing her to be friends with Kawashima, but as long as it kept them from getting into a cat fight he was happy.

"Kurando will be here in a moment." he felt Misato shiver in his arms at the mention of Saki's son, "He creeps me out. He's nice and all, but he just gives me a weird feeling." Shinji knew what she meant but had put it behind him when he saw the guy's skill with a sword, he short of looked like Yuri but also like Rei at times. "I'd better get going. Or else he'll be chatting about random things the whole way." which was true for him as he would always start on boring subjects if they were running late. Sort of like a verbal punishment.

He had grabbed his coat on the way out, his brown long coat had been ruined when he returned to Japan and had traded it for a black one which he found a lot better to wear, he also remembered to pocket his brass knuckle dusters which was a gift from Margarete during her last visit.

"Shinji your early." a soft calm voice said from his right as he left the house, "Yeah. And… your still dressed like that?" Shinji said looking at Kurando who was wearing his usual kimono, "What's wrong with how I dress?", "Nothing. Just usually if your guarding someone you don't make yourself stand out like a sore thumb." Shinji said trying not to sound so condescending, "My clothes allow me to use my sword more effectively and I am comfortable in them." Shinji just shrugged as they headed to the train station outside Katsuragi forest.

"How are you anyway? I haven't seen you in over a week." Shinji asked as they sat on the train, "I'm fine." Shinji started having flashbacks of conversations with Rei again, "How are things with Misato?", "Fine. Never been happier, Arisu is as lively as ever." he saw Kurando smile, "That's good.", "When are you going to find someone to try and start a life with? Your sixteen you should be finding someone." Shinji knew first hand of course that leaving something like that too long could mean missing the only opportunity for meeting you soul mate.

He saw the young man go red in the cheeks after he said it, "I'm rather busy for that, but I understand what your getting at.", "Good. Just be sure to be ready for anything though." Shinji warned him with a smile, "Being married isn't easy, especially with a child with unlimited energy.", "I don't plan on having children straight away." Kurando said which made Shinji burst out laughing, "Yeah. You say that but I didn't plan on children either, but I couldn't be happier with Arisu.".

* * *

After arriving in Tokyo they went their separate ways, Kurando headed for the small shop that his boss owned and where the little sister of Kawashima was currently staying, "Shinji!" he heard his target call out, looking around he saw Yoshiko Kawashima waving at him, wearing of all things the same clothes she wore when she posed as a smuggler, black pants and jacket with a amber button up shirt. "Yoshiko how are you today?" he asked giving her a little bow, "I'm fine Shinji. And I'm sorry for dragging you away from your family at the last minute.", "It's fine. I'll be home for dinner and get to give Arisu a bath, so please do tire me out today." Shinji said in good humour.

"She still a handful?" she asked as they headed down the street, "Yes. But I love them both. How are things with you and Kato?" he grinned as she began fiddling with a stray strand of hair, "F-fine. Everything's fine." he let out a stifled laugh as she was clearly lying but was happy with her new relationship with the newly promoted Kato. "I heard he's over sea's at the moment. Travelling around Europe. He'll be fine over there, if he needs too Yuri and Alice will travel with him.", "I know but it's just… starting a relationship so soon only to have him called away on business with the military." Yoshiko was pleased that she had left the military on early, very early retirement and soon got very close to Kato.

"Where are we going anyway?" Shinji asked as Yoshiko continued to fiddle with her hair, "The doctors, I have an appointment." Shinji instantly began to wonder but didn't say anything as it wasn't his place to poke his nose in, "And then we go shopping for a few things.", "Do you mean a few things or do you mean me carrying so much stuff that only my little finger is able to move safely?" but she just laughed as they continued to the doctors.

* * *

Arriving in Paris just after noon they reached Gepetto's apartment located in the Paris back street's, while still giving it a nice look given the location. "Right you two first things first loose the rank badges." Gepetto said pointing to Karin and Asuka, "Why?", "Because we attracted enough attention walking through the streets with two German officers, we don't need the same when we leave.", "He's right ladies. Your behind enemy lines." Yuri reminded them.

"Alright." Karin and Asuka began ripping off their badges and other signs of rank or anything that linked them with the German army, which they did with reluctance. "Better ladies… much better." Yuri said with a smile, "Now old man go look for that book." Blanca was curled up by the door and was sleeping soundly as they made themselves at home.

"So… Yuri…" Asuka started as he sat on the edge of a cluttered table, "What?", "Just what are you?", "Asuka! Don't be rude!" Karin said sternly at her friend, "What!? And your not the tiniest bit interested on what's going on here!?" Asuka shot back, "I'm an harmonixer, I use a technique called Fusion, it allows me to turn into demons after collecting their souls.", "That would explain what happened at the church." Karin said as she stared at him, "Amon… my strongest fusion. It's helped me a lot.", "I could see why, its very… durable." she remembered the grenades and bullets that just bounced off its thick hide.

"That's not the half of it." he laughed as he remembered all the times he had used it and the events leading up to him acquiring it, "I wonder how he's doing…" thinking of Halley and his mother, the owner of the voice that had driven him close to insanity by the times it just appeared without warning. "Who?", "A kid from London we helped about a year ago. His mother took him to America after we rescued her from a real bad guy." the sentiment was slightly hollow to him as he had been thinking about what Albert Simon did for them in his final moments.

Gepetto came back out looking slightly confused, "Did any of you move anything in there?" he asked, "No. You're the only one who's been back there since we got here.", "I see… It's time to go." he said suddenly, "What!? We've only just got here?", "Someone's been in my apartment and it wasn't the landlady. Several of my old books are missing, ones about the occult and magic spells." Yuri could easily guess who it was and nodded, "Blanca. Wake up." the wolf was awake in moments and started sniffing the air.

Looking up they heard the sound of someone on the roof and looking up they saw the gasmask covered faces of the clawed soldiers staring back at them before they crashed from the skylight. "You guys just don't quit do you?" Yuri asked as he punched the closest one sending him back against the bookcase behind him, Asuka jumped back out of reach of another claw before grabbing his arm and flipping him over her shoulder. Karin delivered the knockout blow as she slammed her foot down onto his masked face.

"Come on lets go before anymore show up." Yuri said as he kicked the door open, catching another masked solider in the face, "Got everything old man?" he asked Gepetto who gestured to a doctors bag, "Yup. Won't be able to come back here for a while so I'm taking the only thing I need." nodding he looked down the back street, "This way.".

Running down the street they hoped to get out into the crowds of the Champs-Elysees and its popular shopping district, however they reached the end of the street as another two soldiers appeared in front of them, only to be barrelled out of the way but Yuri. "Into the subway tunnel!" Gepetto said hurrying them down a side street and into the underground, "Why here?", "We'll be able to loose them for a short time. But since they're already in the city then we'll have to leave now, and we can use the subway tunnels for that." they boarded a local train and headed for the shopping district of the city.

* * *

Well theres another chapter. I had to wait a little longer then i wanted to post this as i've come down with a cold and feel like hell. So had to wait for that to clear up before posting.


	4. Chap 4: Riding the Rails

This was a little hard to do as it was difficult trying to find just where to cut this chapter off. But decided on it.

Finally over my cold, hurray! But still feeling the after effects of it nothing that some cold and flu pills wont cure. MCM expo in London at the end of October! Yahoo!

* * *

The streets were packed with people both rich and poor going about their business, if they could reach the main subway platform at the end of the street they would be able to head out of the city without having to stop, however they ran into a small problem.

"What do you mean we can't go that way!?" Yuri asked not believing what she was hearing when they were stopped by a workman on the underground, "I said you can't go through. We're working on repairs to the tunnel, you'll have to wait." Yuri looked at the other workmen who were with him, who were sitting around a small table playing cards, "Repairs? Right." scoffing he walked out of the station with the others. "Well I don't know about the rest of you but I'm stumped." he said shrugging as Gepetto looked at one of the hotels on the street and smiled.

"Hey old man where you going!?" Yuri called out as he watched Gepetto walked into the hotel like he owned the place, "Damn it." Yuri huffed as he took off after him, only to find him talking to a man as old as him in a dull grey suit, they looked like two old friends. "Don't run off like that again." Karin warned him as they approached the two, "Nonsense I was just talking to my friend here, he works on the subway as its designer." he said with a smile, "He'll be willing to help us out for old times sake.", "Well played…" Yuri said quietly, he had been starting to doubt that his mind was as sharp as it was with all the drinking they had done.

"I'll send word to the foreman to let you through, just don't cause too much damage. This is my last job before I retire.", "Don't worry old friend, you won't even know we're were there." Gepetto tried to reassure him but everyone knew that they were likely to be in at least one fight while they were down there if the soldiers were thinking of looking for them down underground.

"Just what sort of trouble are you in anyway?" he asked, "The kind that wouldn't be good for you if I told you I'm afraid.", "I see, then I wish you luck in your journey Gepetto. If you find yourself back in this part of France, maybe we could have a drink?" nodding in agreement they left the hotel and headed back to the subway station.

Upon reaching the foreman they were surprised and relieved to find that the man had stepped aside and was letting them pass, after giving them a warning that it was still dangerous in the tunnels, after reassuring him that they could take care of themselves they began their long walk along the tunnel.

* * *

"You know when we get out of here I'm really going to need to lay down." Asuka said stepping off the semi-built railway tracks, "Everyone does. But until we're out of here, it will have to wait." Yuri said as he kept his eyes open ahead of them. While the tunnel was lit with a number of lanterns lighting the way for them, there were still a number of dark areas off to the sides of the tunnel were more work was going on or parts that were for storage.

"I know that idiot! I was just putting it out there." Asuka countered as they made their way along the tracks, "I don't know how he put up with you?" Yuri mumbled under his breath so Asuka didn't hear him, "God I hope this gets sorted out… I really need to visit some friends." he said hopefully as he thought of Zhuzhen, Keith and Margaret who he hadn't talked too since Alice's death.

"Well if we get a move on then we can." Gepetto said giving him a push forwards, not watching to spend longer down in the tunnels then they needed to, as they had no way of knowing if that the goons from the secret society had been able to guess what he was planning and get into the tunnel ahead of them, he cursed himself for not asking the foreman when they had the chance.

They froze when they heard something fall down ahead of them, "Shit…" Yuri whispered as he checked behind them and saw nothing, "I hope that was just a rat." Karin said as she gripped her sword tightly, "Blanca? What is it?" he asked hoping that the wolf would be able to catch a scent of something besides a rat.

Waiting several tense moments they heard nothing and Blanca didn't seem to smell anything so they continued forwards where they found the tunnel opened up into the large hollowed out chamber, "Repairs my foot. Their still building the bloody thing." Yuri said in disbelief as he stared around at would be a station on the new subway network.

"Doesn't matter to us kiddo, come on we've got to pick a route." Gepetto said pointing to the two tunnels ahead of them, "Great…", "Which way?" Karin wondered aloud as they finally chose the left tunnel which was smaller then the one they had first gone through but not by much. It was a straight tunnel with no side caverns and arrived at another large chamber and saw it was already occupied, looking at the steel clawed soldiers they stared at each other before it clicked into place, "Get them!" one of the soldiers shouted as they started to charge with their claws raised.

Yuri reacted first as he lunched himself at the one in front and jumped at him, kicking him in the face as he pulled another back along with him as he flew past, while Karin and Asuka took care of the ones in front of them, blocking their claws with their swords with relative ease as Gepetto unleashed a barrage of icicles at the remaining ones as Blanca made sure they didn't run.

Out of the corner of her eye, Karin could make out Yuri going to town on the two soldiers he was fighting, at one point picking one up above his head and throwing him through a stack of creates. Focusing on her opponent she blocked another slash from his claw and smacked him across the back of his head with the hilt of her sword as she jumped past him.

Asuka parried the claw and violently kicked the man in the chest, though he was seemingly only wearing a leather bodysuit it seemed to be reinforced as it didn't effect him as much as she would of thought it had, thrusting her sword forwards she forced him backwards. Before he could recover to attack her she dashed forward and jumped, lashing out with both feet and hitting his solar plexus, knocking him to the floor.

"I think its safe to say that they know what we were planning." Yuri said catching his breath after making sure the clawed soldiers weren't going to get back up, "Your right. Come on lets hurry before anymore show up." hurrying along the next tunnel it took them almost five minutes to reach the end and were angry when they found the tunnel had yet to be completed. "Your kidding!" Yuri said kicking the wall, "We're screwed if we have to fight our way through more of those goons.", "Well instead of moaning about it, lets just go!" Asuka shouted trying not to punch the red eyed man, "She's right. Come on." Gepetto turned and they began hurrying back down to where they had started which took them nearly ten minutes as they had to keep stopping to make sure that there wasn't anyone ahead of them, with every small noise they had to stop and wait.

Thankfully they were able to reach the first chamber without encountering anymore of the clawed soldiers, "My friend said that one of the tunnels was completed first for safety reasons, must be this one." Gepetto said looking down the tunnel which had a heavy looking cart blocking the way on the rails, "Great…" Yuri groaned for the second time since going underground. "Your up." Yuri looked at the old man like he had just grown a second head, "What?", "You're the only one strong enough to push the thing. So if you would be so kind…?" he gestured to the loaded cart and watched as Yuri let out a long sigh, "Fine. Just watch my back.".

After checking to make sure the break was off he put his back against the cart and began to push it, while it was barely half filled with empty sacks it was still hard for him to push. After feeling like his head was going to explode from the strain he was able to get it rolling enough to take some of the strain off as was soon able to expose a side tunnel about halfway along before the end.

"Thanks Yuri." Karin said smiling at the man who was clearly having trouble standing up straight, "Yeah… so tired… need to… get in… better shape. Shit…" he had to support himself on the tunnel wall as they made their way along it, "Feeling better?" Asuka asked after a few quite minutes of walking, "Little bit… still don't want to do that anytime soon though.", "Its strange, they usually have small engines to pull that sort of stuff out the way. I wonder why it was just left halfway along the tunnel like that?" Gepetto wondered aloud as they saw another large cavern up ahead but with daylight visible in the distance.

"Looks like we're nearly there.", "Good. Can't wait to have a bath." Asuka said merrily, stretching her arms above her. They reached the entrance of the cavern when they heard a burst of deep sensual laughter, "What now?" Yuri asked impatiently as they saw a woman walk out of the shadows ahead of them, "What the hell is she wearing?" Asuka asked upon seeing the woman's clothing. She had her waist length blonde hair tied into a ponytail made up of three separate sections, her clothing however was what grabbed their attention, knee length platform stilettos with a corset jacket exposing a generous amount of cleavage, she looked like a very beautiful woman but they all guessed that she wasn't very nice.

"Who the hell are you? An exotic dancer or something who's gotten lost?" Yuri joked getting a laugh out of Gepetto as Asuka said some rude things about her state of dress, "How dare you! My name is Veronica." she said going from angry to sweet in a heartbeat, "I'm Sapientes Gladio's best magical warrior. If you give yourselves up now and become my slaves, I might just spare your lives." Yuri waved her off with a grin, "Sorry lady. But we're not into that scene.", "Speak for yourself." Gepetto mumbled loud enough for them to hear, "I don't even want to think about it." Asuka said trying not to imagine the old man and this crazy looking woman doing things together.

"Such a shame. It'll be too late for you to change your minds later, you know. But I wonder if you'll be so brave after my little pets here have their way with you?" they couldn't believe how they missed the two large ten foot tall demons stomping out in front of them from the shadows.

They both looked like overgrown imps with muscular arms and heads with flapping wings as they hovered above the ground by a foot, one being a dark red colour while the other was dark blue. "I don't think this is going to be easy." Asuka said as Karin nodded, "She must of summoned them as there was no way they should be able to get in here.", "Well I'll leave you to play with my pets. Again, it's a shame you weren't willing to be my slaves…" with that she disappeared in a swirl of purple smoke.

The two demons roared loudly as Yuri kept back from their fists, not wanting to get hit by a thing that could easily break a limb or worse, "Gepetto! Soften them up!" he shouted as the old man dropped his bag off to one side and began casting a magic crest, something he was extremely good at. Catching the two demons off guard he managed to get both of them with a single Holy Light crest, which shattered with a warm glow as it impacted the two.

Karin charged her sword and slashed it along the ground, sending a small pillar of fire towards the blue demon, not knowing if the red skin showed what element it's soul was, in this case fire. The pillar smashed into Blue before it had gotten a chance to recover from the Holy crest that Gepetto had used, she thought that concentrating on one would end the fight quicker.

But while they were fairly slow moving they had a sudden burst of speed before they fell back into drifting around, evident by the red one who was trying to get in behind them while they had their attention focused on Blue. Blanca turned and attacked Red before it could attack, this left Asuka time to turn and join the attack while Yuri, Karin and Gepetto dealt with Blue.

Asuka didn't like using her other abilities and had always tried to keep their use to a minimum because she couldn't have control over them for long and had been down to using them in short bursts on individuals rather then groups. Letting her powers out, her eyes turned red and she seemingly split into three and attacked the legs and arms of the large demon making several dozen cuts appear over its limbs in a few seconds, making it howl out in pain as her eyes returned to normal and left her panting for breath.

"I hate using that…" she moved out of the way as Red shot a fireball the size of a football out of its mouth and destroyed a stack of crates behind her, she was thankful for Blanca sinking his fangs into the already wounded legs of Red, which gave her time to recover and move into a better position.

Looking over her shoulder she saw Blue fading away into nothing as Yuri looked like he had delivered the finishing blow, as they turned towards her and Gepetto started casting an ice spell to help finish off Red which was already on its last legs.

A short howl later and Red had disappeared leaving them alone again inside the underground cavern. "Crazy bitch…" Yuri huffed as he got his breath back, realising that he was out of shape after so long not hunting demons, "Come on, before anymore of those morons show up." heading towards the end of the tunnel they began to see daylight and were glad that they hadn't run into anymore of the clawed soldiers

"Where's the nearest port then?" Yuri asked Gepetto, "Well we cant use the major ports as they will no doubt be being watched, but I think Le Havre will be our best chance." he said as they started their walk through the French countryside, "That's at least two days walk from here.", "Well if we can hitch a ride it will be quicker but now that we're out of the city then it will be harder for them to follow us." Karin said making Asuka nod in agreement.

"Though I'd be up for just putting as much distance between us and them as humanly possible.", "Le Havre it is then." Yuri said letting Gepetto lead the way.

* * *

Yuri and the others had reached the port of Le Havre where they were hoping to catch a ship over to Southampton, their trip through Paris had nearly caught the eye of the weirdo's chasing them but they were able to get out of Paris without being seen. "I am exhausted." Asuka said as they sat on the steps leading down from the entrance to the port town, "It was a long journey that's for sure." Gepetto said also taking a seat, "Look at it this way. All we got to do is find a ship bound for England and we're sorted." Yuri said scratching Blanca behind the ears as the white wolf wagged it's tail happily.

"I see only one small problem." Karin said, "We don't have any money." Yuri just found his shoes very interesting, "Alright… I get your point. But surely we can just hide…" Asuka kicked him in the shin, "You idiot! Who the hell do you think we are?" she screamed in his face, "Enough! Geez your so loud!" Yuri said backing away, covering his ears.

"Well it was a stupid idea to mention hiding on a ship in the first place." Gepetto said getting to his feet, "We should try and find someone who will loan us the money until we can reach England.", "Good idea. We should try the mayor first. He should be able to at least help us with getting somewhere with this problem." Karin said leading them further into the town.

The first place they saw in at the end of the twisting street was an small mansion surrounded by a stone wall with an opening in front of the main door, "Is this the mayor's home?" Karin asked a passer by, "Yeah… fat bastard." the man said shaking his head as he continued on his way. "He seems real popular doesn't he?" Yuri said as they knocked on the door, which just opened on its own.

"Welcome!" a large round man said from the top of the stairs leading up to the second floor, "Has a flare for the dramatics doesn't he?" Gepetto muttered aloud, "What can I do for our guests?" the mayor said as he walked down the stairs, "Thank you for being so accepting, after we just walked in. But we need a way over to England but our money is a little short." the mayor went deep into thought, "Funny you should say that. There is a little problem we have been having lately, if you can solve it then I would be more then happy to foot your bill to cross over to England." the group couldn't believe their luck, "Sure what is it?" Asuka answered.

"Well there is a masked vigilante causing trouble around town after dark. If you can discourage him and force him out the town then I would be very happy." the mayor said as two tall and thin men walked out of a back room, one was bald and looked shady while the other was wearing a worn hat and a loose fitting suit, "These two will help you get started." the mayor disappeared into the side room of the lobby as the shady bald man walked over to them, "Meet us back here at sundown. You'll be keeping an eye on dock side of town, we'll be looking around here and by the warehouses." the man walked away leaving them in the lobby, "Well he was friendly." Yuri said heading back outside.

* * *

That night Yuri and the others were already on the job searching through the shopping and residential area along with the dock, after an hour they had found nothing bit they weren't complaining about the easy night, "We don't have any idea about what this guy actually looks like?", "We know he's a guy." Karin said trying to help the situation. They were heading back to the docks which were located by the warehouses where the other guards were looking when they heard a weird sounding laugh followed by two screams, "Looks like they found him." Yuri said before running over to the warehouses.

As they entered the warehouse area they saw the two guys along with another who were all holding planks of wood, above them stood a tall muscular man with blonde hair and carrying two railway timbers tied together on his shoulder, and was wearing a colourful butterfly mask. "No one can defeat Grand Papillon the defender of justice!", "Oh great…" Yuri sighed looking at the masked man, "Hey buddy!" he shouted to grab the mans attention which earned another weird laugh, "Are you looking for autographs? Sorry but I cannot!", "No…" Asuka said tapping her foot, "We need you to leave the town.", "What!?" he shouted in surprise.

"We need to cross the channel and you leaving is part of the deal for the mayor to pay for our journey.", "Your working for that fiend! Then I cannot let you go without tasting justice!", "Oh geez… what a cornball." Yuri sighed shaking his head hearing a grunt of effort he was able to duck the railway timber being swung at his head.

"I didn't really want to fight you but if that's how you want to do things, then alright lets dance!" Yuri dashed forward and landed a kick on the mans stomach before moving back and forth delivering a few punches, he saw Blanca dash past and sink his teeth into the mans leg before quickly kicking off before he was able to attack the wolf.

Asuka and Karin double teamed the large man with their sword but what surprised them was when the man dodged with the grace of a dancer, though a rather clumsy one but he dodged the strikes. Countering the attempted blows with a swipe from the railway timber the two women dodged back, missing them by a foot.

Gepetto suddenly cast a water crest which appeared above the man and slammed down on top of him, doing little damage but discouraging him from attacking again, and leaving him soaked to the skin.

"I will say you are worthy foes! But a hero must know when to fight on, another day." in a puff of smoke he turned into a golden bat and flew away into the night, laughing in a deep high pitched voice. Yuri just stared at the bat as it flew as a number of memories flooded back during his travelling days, "Can't be…" he mumbled as Gepetto walked up next to him, "What is it?", "Nothing… It's nothing to worry about. Must be my imagination.", "Well I don't know if he's gone for good but how about we get these two back to the mayors house." the old man said as Yuri helped drag the two back to the large house.

"So he got away?" the mayor asked with a straight face, "Yes. Well he did turn into a bat so we couldn't exactly track him." Karin explained, "I see… do you think you could find him again?", "I guess. It's not like he's hard to miss. Tall and muscular with a stupid laugh. Easy." Asuka said tying back her hair, "Alright if you could please find him, we do think he lives nearby." the mayor went back to the back room leaving them alone. "Why do things have to be so hard..." Asuka mumbled wishing they could just find a bundle of cash on the floor instead of all this running around.

* * *

Hey! Its up, might be putting the next one up in a few days so look out for it. Might be putting some Bleach short one shots up as well later. I'm getting sick of seeing the same pairings covering the lists, so i'm doing something a little different for that.


	5. Chap 5: No Drinks For me I'm a Miner

Well… updates maybe a bit slow for the rest of the month, I will try to get them out but well lets just say I haven't been in the right frame of mind to write due to personal reasons. I'm not going to let it get to me but its been a really crap week on top of things and I'm just wondering what else can go wrong for me, so it's going to be hard to push it aside but I'll get over it. Reviews would lighten my mood if you have the time, but not demanding it or anything.

* * *

They started looking that morning and headed first for the small set of houses near the docks, "That guy really didn't seem to be doing any harm did he? I mean knocking about a couple of hired goons, not really much of a deal is it?" Asuka said resting her hands behind her head as she walked along.

"No but we're getting free travel and he seems strong enough to shrug this off so once we're gone he'll likely come back so nothing to worry about." Yuri said as if he had planned everything out.

After a few dead ends they came into sight of a small house by itself across a small bridge and saw two children playing, and a giant of a man playing with them. "Oh please…" Yuri grumbled coming to a stop, "What?", "Look." he pointed at the giant, "How did those jokers not see that?" the only thing that was missing from the man was a butterfly mask which was on the back of the little girls head.

"It seems everyone here are idiots." Asuka quipped as they headed over the small bridge, "It does seem a bit unrealistic that they didn't but two and two together." Gepetto added, "Lets go see if he remembers us." Yuri said with a grin as they crossed the bridge towards the giant blonde man.

Slowly turning to them he froze and went straight into a fighting stance, "You guys!?", "Hi!" Yuri said giving a little wave, "I don't know what the mayor told you but I'll never let you take me alive!", "Just why are you causing some much trouble around the town then?" Karin said trying to be the voice of reason.

But then the two kids start to defend the big man, "But Joachim isn't a trouble maker.", "Yeah now get outta here!", "Okay just calm down a minute." Yuri said trying to stop the kids from getting involved, "Yes. Lets. Joachim is protecting my store from the mayor and his cronies." an old lady said coming out of the house, "Please come inside and I'll explain everything.".

The old lady, Granny Lot, explained that the previous owner died saying that there was a treasure hidden underneath her store. "So that's why the mayor is using his goons to try and force you out? And that's why muscles here is trying to protect the place?" Asuka said, "What should we do?", "Tell the mayor we quit. I'm not having any hand in this, we're not his go to guys." Yuri said getting to his feet, "That is wonderful. In return when you get back I'll have a nice hot dinner waiting for you." Granny Lot said with a bright smile on her face.

"Alright we'll be back in a moment then… actually you lot stay here I'll do it." Yuri said getting to his feet and heading out of the store and towards the mayors house, "I wonder what he'll think when he finds out she's here?" Yuri thought aloud as he remembered what Shinji had said about the fiery red head, he had told him before he had met back up with Misato that he thought that there could have been something between them but she was always too proud of herself to let anyone get close.  
But he had to admit to himself that she didnt seem as bad as Shinji had said, he knew people could change for the better and he was a prime example. Before he met Shinji he didnt care much for human contact, both because of what he was and previous encounters with people who screamed monster upon seeing him, but Shinji changed all that when he dropped down from the sky that fateful night. If Asuka had changed for the better then maybe it would be good for everyone if she knew about Shinji and Misato, though he wondered what would happen if she found out about Arisu. "Not that it would be a funny sight. But given the chance it could backfire I wont take that risk just yet..." shrugging to himself he continued to the mayors house.

It didn't take him long to get back to the house where the man himself was just stepping out of the house, "Oh. Its you. How goes the search?", "We quit." Yuri said bluntly, "What!? You just can't quit! Your going back on your word!", "I guess. But we all know what you've been up to and just be glad I'm not beating you into the ground. Troubling old ladies, you got some nerve." shaking his head he headed back to the store.

* * *

After sitting down to a nice warm meal which was their first in a few days the group was relaxing in the store with Joachim, "So big guy… what's with the bat act earlier?", "It's just something I can do, pretty impressive isn't it?" Yuri just shook his head, "I've seen better. Few years ago I met someone who could call down swarms of bats on a whim." Yuri held back his laughter as he watched Joachim sweat. "You don't say?", "Yeah. Have you met anyone like that?" everyone was watching the two as Yuri couldn't look any smugger.

"Is there a point to this?", "Yes. What's your last name?" he stared at Yuri before slumping forward with a sigh, "Valentine.", "I knew it!" Yuri said loudly slapping his legs, "Your Keith's little brother. Though I'd say little was a bit of an understatement.", "Can we just drop it. I left home just like he did to start my own path.", "Sure. Though last time I heard he was still travelling with Margarete around America.", "Wait you know him then?" Asuka asked, "No. I just know his brother I travelled with him a few years ago.".

Before anything else could be said Granny Lot rushed in looking panicked, "Joachim! Joachim! The children. They've taken the children.", "Who?", "The Mayor and his men have taken the children to the wine cellar outside of town. He'll only release them if we bring the deed to him." Yuri stood up and walked over to Granny Lot, "We'll get them back. But he won't get the deed." the tone in which he said got everyone's attention. It was determined.

"Yuri…" Joachim started, "I have had enough of people using children for their own ends! Once is more then enough! Where's this cellar!" Yuri hollered turning to Joachim who was now standing next to him, "I'll show you. And thank you.", "Just make sure I don't get my hands on that mayor." Asuka and Karin looked at each other with concern, "Yuri are you sure about this?" Karin asked, "Think before you act…", "She would never forgive me if I just walked away from this." he briefly touched the cross that hung around his neck along with his own amulet before leaving the store.

"Damn that boy. He's going to get himself killed at this rate." Gepetto said getting up, "Why?", "His wife was my wife's niece. She died just over a year ago from a rare illness. He still beats himself up about it today. Come on lets get going before he does something stupid." Blanca followed him as well as the two former officers.

* * *

They soon arrived at the wine cellar which sat at the edge of a wheat field, "This it?", "Yes. It looks small but there are a fair number of rooms underground." Joachim explained, "Though I know the layout of the place so should be easy enough to find our way through.", "Everyone ready?" Yuri asked and they nodded.

"Blanca can you smell the mayor out?" the white wolf barked in acknowledgement and pawed at the door, "It's locked…" Yuri said after trying to open it but stopped when Joachim kicked it off it's hinges, "That will do it.".

Entering the wine cellar they found the place deserted, the walls lined with bottles of aging wine leading to a single wooden door at the far end, "That leads to the basement. It's were they keep the barrels.", "Where would they take the kids?", "There are a few places but my best guess would be the room where they have the oldest wines." Yuri agreed with the guess, he figured the mayor to be someone who enjoys wine and stuff. "So how far do these actually go?" Karin asked as they opened the door, "Not too far. But they do twist and turn so we could get turned around if we're not careful.", "What's that sound?" Asuka said suddenly as the door opened fully.

"Monsters… In a place like this? That's odd." Gepetto mentioned, "We'll just crush them and go through them." Yuri said heading down into the basement corridors, "And we can grab some bottles to go on the way back." Blanca walked forward and began to sniff the ground and air trying to get the scent of the two children, "Go get them boy!" Yuri said making the wolf look at him with a unimpressed look on his face, "Which way?".

Blanca led them down the stone corridors of the basement which were lit by overhead candles and wall mounted torches, they were only slowed down by a number of monster sized cockroaches which were dispatched without much effort, until they came upon a circler store room with the mayor and his thug laying on the floor, with the children tied to a pillar on the other side.

"Are you alright!?" Joachim asked coming to a stop as he stared at the strangely dressed but familiar woman standing at the far end. She had her waist length blonde hair tied into a ponytail made up of three separate sections, her clothing however was what grabbed their attention, knee length platform stilettos with a corset jacket exposing a generous amount of cleavage.

"You there! What do you think you are doing!?" Joachim demanded, "Well, how rude, you should introduce yourself. But my name is Veronica." she gently adjusted the whip in her hands as she spoke, "I don't care! Release the children at once!", "I don't think so. After everything we have done, you just have to ruin everything. I should of guess the mayor wasn't up to it." she let out a sigh as she turned to the group, "Now. You will be quiet and let me work out my frustrations on you." she said sweetly but still churned the stomachs of everyone, "I don't want to know.".

"Why did we have to run into this hussy?" Asuka said in a mock whisper making it loud enough for the woman to hear, "What was that!? How dare you!" she cracked her whip on the ground in anger and frustration and a large plume of purple smocked filled the centre of the room, "What the …" Yuri said taking a step back in awe as a eight foot black and grey toad hopped out with four human looking arms, "Have fun playing with my pet…" Veronica said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Great…" Yuri drew out as they backed away from the toad demon, "Did you have to piss her off red?", "I didn't know she was going to summon a monster did I?" she shouted back as she drew her sword, Karin doing the same, "Why does this always happen to me?" Yuri wondered aloud as he put on his bladed gloves.

"Come on you ugly bastard!" he shouted diving at the monster, "Joachim! Get those kids out of here. We'll handle this thing!" Yuri said as he slashed and stabbed at the giant toad with the blades on his hands, "Yuri stand clear!" Karin called as she stood up straight before dragging the tip of her sword along the ground which seemed to light it like a match, she threw the sword with a flick of the wrist and the sword embedded itself in the soft slimy flesh, setting it alight.

"Awesome!" Yuri said impressed with the magic, "Very nice." he renewed his assault as Blanca sank his teeth into the legs of the monster, "I'm not going to be outdone." Asuka mumbled before closing her eyes before opening them, revealing shining red eyes. To the normal eye Asuka had attacked from three places at the same time but she had been moving extremely quickly when she returned to the spot where she had started she was slightly out of breath, "I really need to get better at using that." she said to Karin who chuckled, "I always tell you but you never listen.", "Bite me.".

Yuri jumped up to the toads head and drove his wrist blades down into it's head repeatedly, "Old man! Finish it!" he shouted giving one final strike before jumping off as Gepetto cast another magic crest at the creature. Killing it.

"That was easy." Yuri said smiling as he stretched his shoulders and arms, "What? You mean you found that easy?" Asuka asked, "Yeah. I've had worse. Now come on lets go catch up with Joachim." they headed out but stopped next to the mayor and his thug, "Oh you can cut the act as well. That's the worst acting I've ever seen." Yuri said before leaving the wine cellar before they lost Joachim. The major and his top thug were poorly acting that they were unconscious.

* * *

They caught up to Joachim outside of the wine cellar and he thanked them before he decided to join them on their journey, saying that he wasn't able to protect them unless he trained more, the mayor came along and apologized for his actions which put everyone at ease and gave Yuri and the others free passage on a ship bound for Southampton later that day.

Karin and Asuka looked away in embarrassment as Yuri emptied his stomach over the side of the ship, he had been doing it since they left port and both didn't know a person could turn such unique shade of green. "Is he always like this?" Asuka asked Gepetto who seemed to have his sea legs, "Sadly yes. Every time he gets on a boat he does that…" he waved at the young man who was now slumped against the side of the boat, "But if he was flying then he'd be fine.".

Gepetto let out a long sigh, "But the kid has brass ones that's for sure. About two years ago he and his friends stopped a powerful warlock from calling forth a god, twice. Once in Shanghai and again in Wales.", "Wait isn't that where we're going?", "Yes but it's safe. So he say's. But I trust him anyway." he pulled out a small flask and took a mouthful from it. "Sadly since his Alice passed away he hasn't talked much with any of them. I don't know if they even know she's gone." they saw England in the distance, "He certainly is an interesting person." Karin said looking at Yuri as Blanca slowly walked over to him, also not coping well with the moving ship, and sat down next to him.

"He's also a harmonixer. He can fuse parts of his soul to a demon form.", "So…" Asuka asked, "He can turn himself into demons. But now that I think of it he hasn't done that since he got hit by that mistletoe thing." Gepetto looked at the man with concern.

If they ran into more people from the group that was chasing them or that woman again, they would need his fusion power to make sure they walked away from the fight. Gepetto made a mental note to talk with him once they were rested and alone.

"Land! Thank you!" Yuri cried with joy as they stepped off the docks into Southampton, "Hey!" a dock guard called running up to them, "You'd better get inside! There's a storm on the way. We're shutting all the roads out of the city and the docks.", "Any idea where we can stay?" Yuri asked, "There's an inn used by dock workers just through that old castle gate, there should be some rooms left." Yuri and the others thanked the man as he rushed off to warn everyone else on the docks of the impending storm, "Looks like we're stuck here for a while, until the storm passes over. Come on lets find that inn." Gepetto lead the way a little eagerly with Karin at his heels, both clearly wanting a drink.

Once inside they settled in their two rooms and waited for the storm to pass, and Yuri sat on one of the tables at the bar and overheard a conversation between two workers, "Yeah I heard the over land route was blocked by a landslide, gonna take a few days to clear it.", "It's blocking the entire northern route then?", "Yep Wales included. All because of this damn storm." Yuri slumped down in his seat, he was stuck in this city for several days as it would take at least a week to walk it in the unpredictable weather outside.

"Excuse me is this seat taken?" a deep voice said from behind him, "Nah. Help yourself." he pushed the seat out with his foot and a well muscled Japanese man in a black officers suit sat down, "No way…", "Long time no see Yuri.", "Kato!" he reached over and shook the mans hand, "How you been?", "I've been great Yuri. I see your travelling again. How is Alice?" Yuri's smile disappeared and he slumped down in his seat, "She passed away just over a year ago… just after we got back from visiting Japan.", "Yuri…", "Don't say your sorry!" he realised he was being loud and calmed himself down, "It's not your fault. I've come to terms with it… more or less. Tell me about yourself? How is the Lt. Col?", "We've been engaged for a couple of weeks before I was called away on business.", "I take it your not a sergeant anymore?", "No. I'm a major now. My wife to be has taken on a less dangerous role in the military as an instructor.".

"Good to hear. How's Shinji and Misato?", "Their little girl is causing them trouble but they are happy. There was rumour of another child on the way but I haven't heard anything but a rumour.", "Oh. That's something to tease him about when I visit next…, before I forget don't mention Shinji or Misato's name to the other red head around here. I don't want to ruin their life by dropping her into it." he waved over at the slightly sloshed Karin sitting at the bar, "She's alright but the old man knows about Shinji. He'll keep his mouth shut unless the booze opens it.".

"I'm happy for you Kato I really am." Yuri said after a moment of silence drifted between them, "I'm glad that you and Kawashima got out of that mess unharmed. What happened to the bastard behind it all?", "Life in prison. Once the higher ups found out what he had done they locked him away and put Shanghai under control of a capable person who they can trust to keep the locals happy but under control.".

Kato seemed uneasy for someone who hadn't seen in over a year, "Kato is something wrong?", "I want you to visit them." Yuri sat back and took a sip of his drink, "Kato…", "No Yuri listen. You have to! They're your friends and Shinji still talks about your time together like it was just the other day. And besides you owe him…" Kato said sternly, "For what!?", "Travelling all the way to Europe to find you after Shanghai. I saw how much Misato was grieving for him while he was away, I was afraid that it was going to tear them apart." Yuri stared down at the table but didn't say a word. He didn't know what to say to that.

"Yuri I didn't mean it like that… they both miss you, I heard you haven't sent them any word since your last visit. Don't you think it's time for you to visit?", "I will. Once we've figured out who it is chasing us. We've been on the run since the Ardennes, by some weirdo group.", "A group?", "My guess is some secret society. There grunts were wearing masks with blades on their forearms.", "Mmmm. That does sound familiar, but I'll look into it for you. If I find anything I'll send a letter to your friend in Wales.", "Thanks… I appreciate it Kato I really do.", "Just remember to visit them when you get the chance.".

He got up and excused himself, "I'll be turning in for the night Yuri. I wish you a safe journey." Kato gave a small bow and Yuri just waved, watching Kato run into Asuka on the way out of the bar, "Sorry miss.", "Who was that? He's Japanese.", "Wow. Thank you for pointing that out captain obvious." Yuri grinned at her as she sat down, "Have you seen Joachim anywhere? I haven't seen him since we landed.", "I think he's up in your room. Sleeping off the crossing. What you drinking there?" Yuri held up his glass, "Rum.".

Asuka ordered a glass of rum and sat back down across from Yuri, "So…", "So? Your not going to dig into my past are you?", "What? Why would I do that?", "You haven't known me that long. We're on the run. And I'm a unique person. But trust me, my past isn't something that you want to know to much about.", "Oh… sorry." Asuka looked down at her glass and Yuri knew he'd said the wrong thing, "Geez. Look I'll tell you this. I fought a lot of demons, monsters and some rather bad people most of my life, and I didn't get much in return from it. Just a few good meals and a roof over my head for the night. But then things changed." Yuri went and told her about his travels and meeting Alice but left Shinji's name out of things.

"Sounds like fun." Asuka joked feeling a little merrier because of the rum, "It was when we weren't fighting. I'll have to visit them again when we've sorted out this group that are chasing us.", "Did you know that guy in the black suit? You were having a decent conversation.", "Yeah. We helped him back when he was a sergeant. His commanding officer was straight out using us but she was honest about it. Which surprised me.", "Well she was being honest as you said.", "What's your story then?" Yuri asked with a smirk as he made himself comfortable in his seat.

Asuka began to tell him the barebones story of her arrival, leaving out the part from being from a different time, but told Yuri everything about helping Karin and her time in Germany, 'Yup she's acting exactly like he had said she would.' Yuri thought as Asuka smiled at the memories, "Anyone you miss? Anyone special?" Asuka went blushed heavily at the thoughts of her past coming back to her, "N-no. But there was someone who I need to… talk to.", "Oh? Why's that?" Yuri saw her saddened expression.

"I need to apologize to him, I treated him so badly. He tried to be nice to me but I always pushed him away, I wanted to be friends but part of me just didn't seem to let anyone close." she traced the rim of her glass with her finger as she stared at the strong beverage, "I really miss him. Now that I'm alone here, it's given me a harsh reminder of how people need friends. That's why I'm with Karin, she understands me.". Yuri felt a pang of guilt of hiding the truth from her, but still remembered the promise he made himself, "I'm sure you'll see each other again. And when you do, then you can tell him." he said with determination which he was glad to see that it cheered her up. "Thanks Yuri. I guess its right what people say, that you just need to talk about things in order to feel better.".

Yuri woke up in their room, Blanca was curled up at the foot of his bed with Joachim snoring lightly and the old man slumped over his own bed, the smell of alcohol came off him. "God old man you stink." opening a window he tried to get the smell of booze to leave the room, but when he could still smell it he left and headed downstairs to grab something to eat. As he sat down to a small meal, which was all he could afford, he asked the bartender if there was another way to get to Wales from where they were but he said there wasn't unless they wanted to walk over the countryside, which he didn't exactly want to do if he could help it.

"Excuse me? Did you say you wanted to get to Wales?" a man said stinking of booze said as he sat down next to him, "Yeah I did. What of it?", "There's an old mine not to far from here. You'd be able to get through to the other side of the landslide and be on your merry way.", "Why doesn't anyone else use it?" the bar fly looked down at his drink before turning to Yuri, "Because everyone knows it's haunted by ghosts and monsters." Yuri just grinned before asking where the mine was exactly.

* * *

Arriving back in the village, Shinji barely reached the house before collapsing in exhaustion on their bed, "So tired…" he groaned while his head was buried in a pillow, "Shinji? Are you all right?" Saki asked from the doorway, "Kawashima. She doesn't know when to stop shopping!". He had spent the last five hours following her around Tokyo, carrying her bags and helping her, it was the third such trip that week and he was beyond worn out, all because of her trip to the doctor.

"How can someone who was so focused in the military be such a shop-a-holic as a civilian. She must of changed her entire wardrobe!", "Well she is expecting a child now? So I think she's entitled to look her best while she's pregnant.", "I guess…" Shinji looked up at her, "But why do I have to do all the heavy lifting?". "Shinji we went over this with Misato. You're a man, it's your job." she giggled as she walked away leaving Shinji rested after his long day.

Waking up he felt two familiar things pressing against his head, "Shinji? You awake yet?" he heard Misato's slightly muffled voice ask in a mischievous tone, "Yes… And I admit I'm liking the view." Misato sat up and light flooded Shinji's eyes, "That's one of your favourites isn't it?" she asked with a sly smile making him go red, "My head ended up there enough times." he got out, "Your still my Shinji-kun aren't you?" she grabbed in a bear hug and pulled him down into bed, "Where's Arisu?", "Downstairs playing with her grandmother.", "I wonder how she feels about being a grandmother at thirty?" Shinji wondered aloud only for Misato to poke him in the cheek.

"Don't over think Shinji… It usually doesn't work for you.", "Alright I'm hungry." Shinji said getting up, "Thinking with your stomach. Always a safe bet with you.", "Are you just going to tease me for the rest of the day." Misato just laughed softly while hugging Shinji, "Of course not. I'll tease you forever.".

Shinji just shook his head as he headed downstairs and saw Arisu bouncing around in Yui's arms, at the moment she had traces of dark hair growing and he didn't want to guess if she was going to have dark brown or purple hair, but he wouldn't mind either way. "Oh Shinji-kun your back.", "Yeah Kawashima really knows how to work a guy. I'm exhausted." he knelt down and let Arisu play with his fingers, "Hey there princess. How's my little girl doing?" he asked her softly, getting an excited giggle from his daughter, "Shinji can I ask you a favour?" Saki asked entering the room, "Sure.", "Well the storm season is coming up soon and we'll need everyone on hand to repair any damage they do. I was wondering if you could ask for that time off to help.", "Sure. It wasn't much of a problem last year and thankfully we didn't get the worst of it. I'll ask next time I see her." Saki thanked him with a big hug.

"Always going out of your way to help others. You really are a special person Shinji.", "Sure am. In more ways then one." he said brimming with confidence, "And handsome too." Misato cheered bear hugging him from behind. He quickly found himself being tossed to one side as Misato picked up Arisu, "No one stands between me and my little girl, right?" she asked her, getting a giggle as an answer.

As they sat down to dinner, Shinji began to think about the last time he had helped with the aftermath of the storm season. The hardest work there was to do was repairing some of the roofs, and that was it. But he felt at home in the village and knew he would always be welcomed here, seeing how he was very useful when it came to cooking and to DIY as it turned out. And thankful that piloting a giant robot in his past completely removed any fear of heights so he could reach the higher points of the houses and make the repairs where others would have trouble.

His thoughts soon drifted back to Yuri and Alice, they hadn't heard anything from them in about a year or so, usually they would of gotten the odd letter but they hadn't heard anything. Misato just said that they were just getting settled into their own peaceful lives but Shinji couldn't help shake the feeling that something was wrong, that or Yuri was bound to do something extremely stupid. It was a universal constant afterall.

* * *

After arriving at the entrance to the mine that they had been told about, and to say that it was abandoned was an understatement. "Christ! Father time really took a hammer to this place." Yuri mumbled as he looked at the ruined barricade that had fallen off the entrance, allowing anyone or anything in, seeing that it was rotten through he hoped that the inside wasn't as bad.

Stepping over the ruined barricade they could barely see five foot in front of them once they entered the mine. "Well this is great! I can't see a damn thing." Asuka groaned as she bumped into someone in front of her, "I know! Try and find a lantern if you can." the sounds of rustling and people bumping into things filled the narrow tunnel, "Anything?" Karin asked as she felt her way through a box to her left. "Got it!" Joachim shouted as he carefully carried the oil lantern over to the others, "Old man you still got your matches?" nodding he pulled out a match box and lit one, carefully lighting the wick of the oil lamp.

They were bathed in the warm glow of the lamp and could see where they were going, "That's better. Now lets find the way through, and don't wonder off." Gepetto warned them knowing that the mine would be an easy way to get separated, "We won't. But I wonder why they abandoned this mine in the first place, I mean it can't be haunted can it?" Joachim asked, "I wouldn't be surprised. We've seen plenty of ghosts haven't we Asuka?" Karin asked as they both remembered Apoina tower where they had been attacked by flying old men in chairs and statues that used their heads to attack them.

"So Yuri. Just who is this person we're heading too?", "Roger Bacon. He's older then Gepetto but he's a lot sharper." Yuri said chuckling as Gepetto grumbled behind him, "He knows pretty much anything about everything, I guess. He's helped us out a lot before so he should be able to tell us who these secret society goons are.", "Will he know then?"."I just he would, or at least know someone who does." they made their way through the dark corridors, the ceilings held up in routine placements with wooden support beams, with thankfully weren't rotting away like the entrance was but it was clear that the miners had left in a hurry as their equipment was still there. "Lets hope we don't run into what ever scared them off.", "Amen to that." Asuka said as she kept looking over her shoulder behind them, "Waiting for someone?" Yuri asked from the front, "No! Just thought I heard something." Asuka said clearly trying to not sound more nervous then she did.

After winding their way through seemingly endless corridors they arrived at a fork in the road. "Which way?", "Left." Karin said straight away, "Why left?" Yuri asked as everyone looked back at her, making her blush and hold her arms, "Well… it's a trick, if your in a maze and keep left then you'll find your way out in time.", "Oh. Alright, left it is then." Yuri said cheerfully as they headed down the left path.

"Karin… stop looking." Asuka whispered as she nudged her in the side, "What?", "Your looking at his butt.", "I wasn't!" she said a little too loudly as her voice carried through the stone passage, "Wasn't what?" Yuri asked from the front, "Nothing!" Karin said looking down, embarrassed with herself for saying it out loud.

She glared at Asuka who was smiling in the dim light as if to silently say it was her fault, "Hang on…" Yuri said as they came to a stop, "What is it?" Joachim asked looking around the corner he had stopped at, "Elevator. Looks likes it goes down.", "Well the man did say we had to go quite deep to find the exit tunnel on the other side of the valley." Gepetto asked, "That he did. Wonder if it works?" thumbing the button only to see that the power wasn't on.

"There's no fuse… Shit." Yuri mumbled as he stepped away from the control panel, "Looks like we're stuck here until we find one." Asuka groaned as she looked down and saw a metal object half buried by the dirt, bending down she pulled out an old looking fuse, "Yuri… heads up." she said tossing him the fuse, "Try that.". It didn't take long to replace the fuse and wait for the power to come back.

"Good lets see's what lies below…" Yuri trailed off and attempted to give an evil sounding laugh while the others merely looked at him, unimpressed at what he was trying to do. "All in favour of feeding him to the first monster we come across raise your hand." Asuka said plainly as everyone including Blanca raised their hand, and paw, "That's really cruel guys." he said as he stepped onto the elevator.

As the elevator shuddered to a stop Yuri pulled open the wire gate and stepped out, holding the lantern so they could make sure that nothing would sneak up and attack them. "This looks more creepy then the upper level did." Joachim said poking his head over the top of the group, "No arguments here. Come on before whatever scared the miners off decides to make an appearance." shining the lantern they followed the dark wooden supports which where further reinforced by wooden slats, "Do we know where we're going?" Asuka asked as Yuri and Blanca stopped suddenly.

"What?", "Shut it for a second… I heard something." Yuri strained his ears to try and pick it out but he was she that there was something ahead of them in the darkness as Blanca growled at whatever it was.

"Old man take the lantern." Yuri didn't wait for an answer as he handed over the light and put on his bladed gloves, "Come on out!" Yuri shouted into the tunnel, "What are you doing!?" Asuka hissed, "Are you stupid!? We don't know what's out there." she was interrupted by a low hungry sounding growl and shuffling towards them.

In the dim light ahead of them they saw a mass of sap slowing moving towards them, its body covered in bark and stones, along with anything that it picked up after moving over them. "What the hell is that?" Karin asked as it moved closer, "Don't know but magic is going to be the only thing that kills it. Hitting it won't do anything." Yuri stepped aside and Gepetto stepped forward and began casting as the sap monster expanded itself to fit the tunnel as Gepetto unleashed a barrage of icicles into the monster, making it dissolve into nothing.

"I thought you were going to use fire for a moment there." Yuri said with a relieved look on his face, "Why not?", "Because we don't know what's down here. One stray spark and…" Yuri clapped his hands together for effect, "Ka-boom.", "Alright then…" Asuka said looking at her sword and at Karin, "We could of blown the mine up.", "Yes… He's smarter then he looks.", "I heard that." Yuri said from the front.

They were surprised by the lack of monsters living in the mine as they had only encounter a few demon dogs and another sap monster before they arrived in a large hollowed out cavern, ahead of them they saw a slope leading up and saw a sliver of daylight.

"Well this is turning out to be a strange little trip isn't it?" Joachim said as they headed towards the slope, only for Blanca to stop and sniff the air, "Another demon?" Yuri asked getting him barking for an answer, "Everyone… look up." Asuka said as they saw her staring at the ceiling, following her gaze they saw a tall and thin demon.

A pale grey skull like face stared back at them with empty eyes as it descended from the ceiling of the cavern, the lower half of its body was covered by waving black and red flaps of skin, its long thin arms began to reach out to them as Yuri reached out and suddenly grabbed one of the flaps of skin and pulled as much as he could. "Joachim! Get ready!" he shouted as he began to swing the demon around his head as it tried to steady itself mid-air, "Now!" Joachim shouted after he lifted a stone slab off the ground and held it like a bat.

Letting go at the right time the demon went flying towards the stone slab, roaring as it made contact, Joachim put all his might behind it as he swung it away into the far side of the cavern.

"Nice swing." Yuri huffed as he looked up at the clearing smoke, "Thank you, but here it comes." the muscle man warned as Karin and Asuka stepped forwards and charged the demon, jumping off the boulders scattered about to reach the upper half of it. Asuka darted behind it while in midair, her eyes glowing red she suddenly appeared on the other side of the head and pieced it from two different sides before moving back and returning to a single Asuka.

Karin was charging her sword with fire on her way up to the demon, it was a risk that she had to take and could only hope that there wasn't anything in the air that could explode, plunging it through its chest she watched as fire erupted back out and blasted her sword back to her.

The combined attacks kept the demon pinned to the far wall as Gepetto began summoning a wind spell from behind them, the effect was deadly as the high winds not only cut into the skin of the demon but it was also being pelted by stones, tools and debris from the area behind them which added nicely to the damage already done.

"Is it dead yet?" Yuri asked as the dust settled, "Doubtful. There was a lot of malice built up from the deaths of the miners. If this thing was made from that malice, you can be sure that it wont go down easily." Gepetto explained as they saw the demon pull itself out of the dent in the cavern wall, and growled at them even as its dark blood leaked from its wounds.

As it held out its hard, dark energy quickly gathered in its palm and Gepetto recognized the spell, "Get out of the way!" a dark mist appeared on the floor before six large talons appeared around the outside of the mist before clamping down on them like a bear trap.

Asuka and Karin were able to parry out of the way of the talons but Yuri and Joachim weren't so lucky. Yuri received a shallow gash down his chest while Joachim got a deeper wound down his arm and upper leg, "Are you two alright?" Gepetto called out as he and Blanca moved back towards the group after getting out of the way in time. "Yeah I'm good… god that hurts." Yuri grunted holding his chest, "Such a sneaky attack won't slow me down!" Joachim shouted as he picked up a boulder through the pain coming from his leg and arm and tossed it at the head of the demon, crushing it like a rotten piece of fruit.

As the body began to dissolve they waited in case there was anything else lurking about, but instead it was just quiet. "Well it looks like that thing was the cause behind all that ill malice, the airs certainly different now that its dead." Gepetto said getting his breath back, "Your right it just feels … empty now.", "Well come on! Lets just go, we've been here for way too long." Asuka said as she headed up the slope towards what they hoped was the exit.

Smiling to himself Yuri quietly followed behind her, being careful not to be heard until he was close enough.

* * *

Longest chapter so far. Hope you like it, though it was tough trying to figure out where to cut it off.


	6. Chap 6: Visiting Italy

Alright I'm back for now. Two weeks nearly since the last update, sorry. I was in a slump as I mentioned some personal reasons in the last update, but that's finished with, unless God really hates me for some reason. But anyway on with the chapter….  
Oh and dont be afraid to give polite imput about this story. I'm not going to bite or anything.

* * *

Asuka ignored Yuri's offered hand up the hill towards Roger's house, she was still mad at him for the whole mine incident from earlier, once they had gotten out of the mine safely, Yuri decided to scare her by sneaking up behind her, earning a slap in the face for his actions. "Come on red you can't still be mad at me?", "I am, so shut up." she walked straight past him towards the house, the strange looking house.

"Wow. This place looks weirder then the last time I visited." Yuri said walking up to the house, "Hey Roger! You about!?" he called out as the others just stared at the strange building in front of them, "Who lives here?" Gepetto asked, "Roger Bacon." Yuri answered going back to calling for Roger.

"What!?" the old man said in surprise, "Who's that?", "A famous and mysterious warlock. And you know him?", "Yes." Yuri said sounding a little annoyed that it was sounding like he wasn't able to be friends with a warlock.

"Well look who it is!?" a deep voice said from above them, looking up they saw the burly bald man from the church, "Lenny? Is that your name?" Yuri asked, "I have to admit following us here was pretty smart. For you anyway." the others laughed as two of Lenny's henchmen walked up beside him, only they were wearing helmets like knights instead of gasmasks. "Your looking for the old man right?", "Yeah you know where he is?", "We've taken him but I'm not saying where!?" Yuri turned to the others and shrugged, "He doesn't know.", "I do know, but I'm not saying where!" Yuri just smirked.

"Yeah right. Your so full of it.", "I do know, I swear!", "Then where is he?" Asuka asked seeing what Yuri was doing, "Florence. Italy." he said dramatically, "Thank you." Yuri said turning around and walking away, "Can't believe he fell for that." Karin wondered, feeling a little disappointed that they had to go all the way to Italy. Lenny wondered about for a moment in frustration before yelling for them to stop as he pulled out his sickle blade and leapt down to the ground.

"You guys aren't going to get away from me!" Lenny said slashing his sickle around in front of him, "Your fusion arts can't even help you!" Lenny said pointing at Yuri, "Really? You think so?" he stepped forward and clutched his heart in pain suddenly before a bright white light filled everyone's visions, followed by a deep roar. Where Yuri once stood was a blue lizard like monster, "Oh my god…" Yuri turned to the others and waved at them, "Yuri?" Karin asked taking a careful step forward only to get another wave from him, "Enough! I'm not letting you go even if you can use fusion!" Lenny said rushing forward to take a swipe at Yuri, only for him to dodge easily and kick flip off him, sending him back into his two henchmen.

Asuka and Karin both drew their swords as the two henchmen quickly recovered, "Asuka and I will handle the guys with the blades. You deal with Lenny." Karin said clearly, taking control of the situation as she parried a slash from the strangely dressed man before kicking him in the chest. Blanca dashed forwards between Yuri's legs and sank his teeth into Lenny's side as Joachim ran forwards with his railway timber and slammed it into his other side, causing what seemed like little damage.

Yuri ran forwards on all fours and tackled Lenny to the ground, opening his mouth exposing razor like teeth however Lenny landed a punch to the side of his head knocking him off balance and letting him kick him off and get back up. "Your starting to annoy me!" Lenny shouted slashing Blanca but not causing a deep wound but somehow having a slight paralyzing effect on the white wolf as he suddenly had trouble moving.  
Yuri moved inbetween Lenny and Blanca and began throwing up walls of water with his clawed hands as Lenny tried to finish off the white wolf. Lenny charged forwards to push past the walls but Yuri merely dodged back and picked up Blanca as he moved back, he owed at lot to the wolf and he wasnt going to just leave him.

Caught up in laughing at the wolf he didn't see Joachim use the railway timbers as a launch pad and use both feet together to kick him in the face. Stumbling back with his nose bloodied, Lenny looked up just in time to have a light magic crest slam into him, recovering from the powerful blow he decided that if he stuck around he would get beaten, so running became the outcome for him.

"You haven't seen the last of me!" he shouted over his shoulder as he ran down the slope away from the now abandoned house along with his two henchmen, they were surprised that such a big person could run so quickly. Yuri panted as he returned to his normal form but had a smug smile on his face, "I still got it!" he cheered before falling down onto his back, "And I feel like hell!" Karin and Asuka walked over and stood over him.

"Care to tell us what the hell that was?" they asked, "Remember I'm a harmonixer. I used the lost art of fusion." he said doing a bad impression of Zhuzhen, "Sorry if I scared you with it. I wouldn't of thought it was that much of a deal.", "You just turned into a different monster and you expect us to just brush it off?" Asuka said getting louder. "The kid just helped us beat that guy. So yeah." Gepetto said walking up to them, "Old man how did you get so good with magic?", "Don't ask. Just something I dabbled in back in my hay day.".

Joachim helped Yuri get to his feet and he walked over to Blanca who looked like he was having trouble standing, "How you doing?" he asked the wolf only for him to look at him and nod, "Just hang in there. Joachim can you carry Blanca until that paralysis wears off?", "Of course." he picked up his weapon first holding it over his shoulder as he picked up Blanca with his other hand, "Just how strong are you?" Karin asked as Joachim effortlessly held onto a railway timber and a fully grown wolf. "I always train, if only to better myself." they said as they headed down into the town nearby.

* * *

After a while Blanca was able to walk by himself. Currently they were trying to figure out how to get to Italy quickly, if the group that was chasing them found out they were heading to Italy they could easily move Roger before they even arrived and they'd be back to square one. "If we can get back to France we can take an express train all the way to Italy." Karin said, "But how to we pay for that?" Yuri asked, "We're broke." Asuka looked around at the small café they were eating at, "Well. Can't be too hard, I mean how much do we need?", "For all of us? About three thousand francs." Gepetto answered which made everyone slump forward.

"That's ridiculous! I've only got a hundred!" Joachim said, "Same here." everyone else said with more or less the same amount in their pocket. "Well there is one other way…" Yuri mumbled into his folded arms, "What's that?", "My friend and I did it in China. We just wait until they train gets close and just jump on.", "That's illegal." Karin spoke up, "So? We need to get there and we haven't got the money. This is the only way, unless you want to walk to Italy?".

"Why do we need to get this Roger guy anyway?" Asuka said, "How can he help us?", "Because I can bet you that he'll know who it is that is following us around. Plus he's my friend, I owe him." Yuri said turning away slightly, "Why?" Gepetto asked "You don't need to know." he said sternly. Everyone looked at him with surprise before going back to their meals, "We're taking the train… and that's final." Yuri said before walking away alone.

"What's crawled up his ass?" Asuka asked surprised at the sudden change it the fist fighters mood, "I guess this is dredging up some memories for him. Of his friends. Of his wife." Gepetto stared down at his coffee as if looking for something in its dark waters, "He'll get over it but don't expect the next few days to be a ride in the park.".

Arriving in France they managed to sneak onto a freight train bound for Italy by hiding in one of the cargo cars. Sure enough Yuri was quiet the whole time during their journey through France again, nobody said anything but merely let him calm down a bit before talking to him. It took them just under two days for them to reach Italy where they had to walk the rest of the way to Florence, where they looked around for and leads, finding one at a fortune telling parlour.

After watching the fortune of some unfortunate man being told and his shoulders slumping forwards as he buried his face into his hands, clearly it wasn't good news for him as the crowds dispersed. Talking with the old woman in charge of the parlour she said that she could help them but they would have to do a favour for her first. They didn't believe that it would have be so hard, just take the girl to the island and help her get a certain special flower.

* * *

Arriving by boat at the island mansion they were taken back by how large the place was, but at the same time surprised by how old and run down it looked. Lucia, the girl that Carla had sent with them, looked around for something but didn't say what it was. Yuri was surprised at her appearance, her long dark brown hair was tied into a large bun held up with a blue pearl net, her lightly tanned skin showed off under her patchwork dress, her ears and bracelets adored with gold jewellery, he would describe her as a gypsy princess if he had too, but she was very beautiful.

Leading them up to the front door of the pale coloured house she unlocked the door with a key she pulled out of nowhere, "The flower we're looking for is in the garden at the rear of the mansion, sadly the door to it is locked and I don't have the know how to unlock it.", "Then how do we get there?" Karin asked, "Carla said that everything you would need was on the table." nodding she opened the door exposing a lovely looking greeting hall, which looked as if it had been well looked after as apposed to the outside of the mansion.

"Looks like someone's been living here." Yuri said as Lucia walked forwards to the centre of the room and managed to set off a pressure plate which dropped a cage over her, "What the hell?", "W-what's going on?" Lucia asked innocently as she looked around at her new cell. Hearing the clinking of bells they looked up at a collection of fortune sticks with talismans and bells bouncing down the stairs towards them, "What the hell are those!?" Asuka shouted drawing her sword, no one had time to answer as they swung their weighted heads at them.

Yuri grabbed the nearest on and wrestled it onto its side before snapping it in half with brutal fury, "Stop moving!" he heard Asuka shout as she missed hitting the dancing sticks once again, "Slash them Asuka, stop trying to stab them!" Karin shouted before he did, her sabre was built for this and had cut through two of them already with elegant double slashes, he wasn't paying attention to Gepetto, Blanca or Joachim as he could hear them behind him. Grabbing another stick he picked it up and slammed it against another, reducing them to kindling as the remaining sticks joined them. Waiting a moment in case anymore showed up when none did, Yuri and Joachim proceeded to lift the heavy cage off of Lucia.

"Next time don't run off ahead like that again. Last thing we need is you injuring yourself, or worse." Yuri said before they turned to head deeper into the mansion.  
The rest off the halls and side rooms were empty, apart from the odd dancing stick which rushed out of nowhere, they soon arrived a thick set of doors with a smaller door off to the side. "What is this?" Gepetto asked as he looked through the tiles on the table nearby, "There signs of the zodiac.", "Yes. That's right, the tiles are part of the lock.", "Great so how do we do this then?" Yuri asked only for Lucia to shrug back at him. All of them breifly wondered why or how this girl was their guide seeing how she seemed not to know anything about the house.

It took them several attempts before they noticed the messages on the wall above each door, giving them the idea of which tiles should go where, some were straight forward while some had to be done with guesswork. Five minutes later they were finally able to open the door to the garden. "About damn time." Yuri grumbled as they made their way into a beautiful lavish garden, "Alright what's going on?" Asuka asked speaking directly at Lucia, "This garden isn't one that's been left alone for years and years. Who's house have we just charged through?", "I'll answer that in a minute I'll just go get the flower we came for." without waiting for an answer she darted off through the garden before anyone could follow.

"She'll drive me insane at this rate." Asuka said, "She does seem a little too… cheerful doesn't she?" Joachim said watching the surrounding bushes in case something came and attacked them, "Andre! No, what are you doing. Stop that!" they heard Lucia cry out and rushed over to where the voice had come from. They were surprised with what they saw.

"That is one big pussycat." Yuri said as he watched a giant pink fluffy cat, with an earring, meow loudly and seemed to be trying to eat her, "Do you think we should help?" Karin asked, seeing on how the woman had clearly tried to have the cat eat them, sighing loudly Yuri stepped forwards, "I guess so.". Joachim and Yuri went about trying to drag the cat away, only to have it smack them away with its tail, "Just how does a cat get that big anyway?" Yuri wondered picking himself up off Joachim.

"I don't know… watch out!" he bellowed as he pulled Yuri backwards narrowly avoiding the cats large black claws, Karin went to draw her sword but was stopped by Lucia shouting not to harm the cat, "Your joking!? It's just tried to eat you!", "Its my fault, I've left him alone for so long." she cried as Asuka wondered just how they were meant to stop a giant cat without hurting it.

"Stick it back in its cage!" Yuri yelled as he tried to lure it back towards the cage as Joachim moved around to begin pushing it towards its cage, Gepetto fired off a few wind spells making sure to miss it but near enough to make it move.

"Damn it old man! That nearly hit me!" Yuri shouted as he ducked under the swipe of the giant paw again after dodging a wind blast that had nearly taken his arm off, grabbing the cats whisker he gave it another tug and got another quick paw swung at him as he moved back into the cage.

"Joachim now!" he shouted as the burly man charged the rear of the cat and pushed with all his might as he saw Yuri dart out of the cage at the last second as Karin pulled the level next to the gilded door, trapping the cat once again.

"Well that was annoying." Asuka mumbled as she pried the tearful Lucia off her arm, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!", "Just why were you trying to get that cat of yours to eat us?", "We had to be careful…", "We? Do you mean that old woman was in on it?" Asuka spat, "Carla and I have been careful of Sapientes Gladio coming after us… But you should hear it from her, it would be easier that way. And I hope you can forgive me for deceiving you like this?" she asked placing her hands together and giving them a small bow. The smile she the gave them was met with cold glares, she was already starting to act like nothing had even happened.

* * *

Returning to Florence they soon found Carla, and noticed that she was surprised to see them. After hearing the story behind Carla's former involvement with Sapientes Gladio, saying that she was originally a member of the group when it was run by a different man who after he had left, the group became what it was now, and she ran and went into hiding in the city of Florence. Though Yuri and Gepetto tried not to laugh when Carla had mentioned that she was once a beautiful dancer, they just couldnt see it.

"So I've been thinking about why they would of taken Roger? I think I know why. It wasn't for him but for what he was helping protect." Yuri said, "Which was?" Gepetto asked as they sat in the parlour, "The Emerigre Manuscript.", "What!? Are you insane. You can't be thinking of giving them that cursed book!" Gepetto said, his anger at knowing such a horrible relic was still in the world let alone in the hands of Yuri, "No! Of course not but they don't know that.".

"What is this manuscript?" Karin asked, "It has the ability to create life from death, or nothing." Yuri said grimly, "We… we found it and placed it in the depths of the old monastery near Rogers house. It's filled with monsters so it wouldn't be easy to get it, plus it's like a damn maze down there." Yuri shuddered at the memories of nearly getting stuck down there with Roger.  
"What would they want with something like that?" Asuka asked, "They clearly know how to use magic and have resources.", "They would be almost immortal, if one dies they can be brought back to life. Or they could make an un-dead army." Yuri explained, "I think I know where you could start looking, there's a small town not to far from here on the coast, it has a island prison nearby. It was closed years ago but they could be using that to hold your friend." Carla said, "I would show you myself but I cannot be of much help, however Lucia can.", "Me?", "Yes girl. I think it would do you some good. But come back and visit any time." the old woman Carla wished them all good luck on their journey.

* * *

It took them a few hours but they arrived early the next morning in a coastal town, "Well this looks like a rather nice place. Not bad for a place hiding a group of nutcases." Yuri quipped, "Where should we start looking?" Joachim asked, "Down by the docks I guess. See if anyone has seen Lenny or Roger.". As they made their way down to the docks, Yuri and the others kept their eyes open for anyone that might be standing out. "Excuse me?" Yuri asked a fisherman who had just cast his line, "Have you seen anyone head over to that island lately, someone small maybe?", "Actually I have now that you mention it. It was a few days ago but you should talk to Milo, he takes food over there for the prisoners and few guards still over there. You'll find him in the tavern.". The fisherman went back to watching the end of his line with interest as the others passed by.

"Was it really that easy?", "Yes Red now lets go the quicker we get over there the quicker we can end this." Yuri hurried to the tavern where they found Milo enjoying a relaxing drink and asked if they could use his boat.  
"I dont know... I could get into a lot of troube if i do. But maybe you have a little something to make it worth my while..." Yuri gave an annoyed sigh and reached into his back pocket, pulling out a handful of coins, "There that should be enough for your boat to vanish for a while, won't it?" Milo smiled at him, "What boat is that lad? As long as it isnt damaged..." Yuri nodded and headed back over to the others who had decided to wait near the door. "Alright now that was easy." heading down to the docks they found Milo's boat which was a little on he small size, but it wasnt going to sink under the load it was now carrying.

* * *

They arrived at a small dock inside a cave inlet on the island where a reinforced wooden door was the only think stopping them from advancing any further. "Well this is a good start." Gepetto said, "Shut up." they began looking around for anything and only found a small hole leading to the inner part of the island, "Blanca do you think you can get through that?" he asked the wolf, "See if you can find a key. And try not to get spotted." Blanca gave a soft bark and scrambled through the hole

"Do you trust him? I mean he's a wolf." Asuka said leaning up against the wall, "He spotted your troops before you moved into the village which let us hide all the villagers." Gepetto answered, "Yuri and I trust him with our lives.".

Blanca wondered through the stone halls of the prison, he had found a way in after a short trip through a wooded area, 'So how am I meant to find a key?' he asked himself as he tried to go in the direction the door was in, hoping to find the door that they were trying to get through. What he realised was that there wasn't any guards anywhere in the outer parts of the prison he moved quicker through the halls, pushing latches up with his nose and trying to find the key all at the same time.

He ended up in a small guardroom with a desk, table and a number of cabinets. Shaking his head he began to look around the room, until he found the keys under one of the cabinets or at least a set of keys not knowing if they were the right ones to open the dock doorway.

Heading back to the door he encountered a single guard walking ahead of him, knowing that it would be quicker to get the key back to the others he timed his movements forward until he reached the exit to the woods again and returned to the docks.

"See told you he'd be back." Yuri said taking the key and giving Blanca a pat on the head, "Let's just hope it's the right one." putting the iron key in the lock, everyone gave a sigh of relief as it opened, "Alright let's find Roger.".

Heading through the stone corridors as quietly as possible they didn't have any idea of the layout and had to deal with ducking into open cells and down side passages as they avoided guards which randomly walked the halls. "This is ridiculous." Asuka hissed, "We don't even know where he is?", "We'll we know he's here, we'll just keep looking until we find him." he mumbled back as he saw a guard walk around the corner.

Ducking back he waited until the guard was a foot away before lashing out with a strike to the stomach before grabbing him in a head lock and dragging back around the corner and slamming him against the wall, knocking him out cold. "Lets hope that we don't end up with anymore guards to dell with.", "I doubt it. But guess it wont be too many as long as we're quiet." Karin mumbled as she helped Yuri carry the body into an empty cell.

"Don't you think it will be easier to split up?" Lucia asked, "No. We'd be better off sticking together with all these guards around, that and we don't know if Nicolai or Lenny are here… Or that Veronica woman." Karin told her, "She's right. Lets go." Yuri said taking another look around the corner before moving into the corridor.

* * *

Alright here we go, another chapter finished. I may do a little extra side story for Halloween either on this or as a stand alone piece. Oh and don't be afraid to review, I no longer have Slender Man on speed dial, and if you don't know who he is then look him up, spooky.


	7. Chap 7: To Russia with Annoyance

Alright a little longer then I thought it would of taken to upload. Money problems i'm afraid, trying to get money together for a trip to London at the end of the month for HyperJapan show, Japanese culture and all that great stuff Otaku's like myself love. That and i'm going to Japan next year so i have to make sure to work extra shifts to get fat juicy paychecks. Though I will say there is one more chapter after this one and then Yuri and Shinji are back together, not that Yuri will enjoy it to begin with. Though i'll let you read it to find out why.

* * *

Finding that each corridor they turned into looked the same as the last they thought they were going to have some problems finding Roger in the end. Coming out into a large chamber with thick chains laying across the floor, which was strange enough, as it looked like they were chains for a collar for a elephant or some other large animal to keep them in place.

"Alright… I think we're lost now…" Yuri said reluctantly as he looked around the large room, "Well of course we are! If you had just thought about what you were doing then maybe we won't be lost!" Asuka hissed at the red eyed man, "Keep it down! We can't keep knocking out the guards we come across." they stopped when Blanca started growling.

"What is it?" Gepetto asked the wolf before he started swaying on his feet, "What is wrong with me…" grabbing his head he collapsed followed by Joachim and Lucia, "What the hell…" Yuri tried to take a step forwards but fell onto his knees when his head and limbs began to feel heavy, "Blanca…" the last thing he saw was the wolf running out of the room and away into the prison.

Veronica and Lenny walked into the chamber once the pink gas finally disappeared with a group of guards following behind them. "Take them to the dungeon… I'll play with them later, once they wake up.", "Right… someone go find that mutt!" Lenny shouted as some of the guards chased after the wolf. Veronica looked on with a lustful grin as she watched them all get taken away, she had personal playing chambers on this island with all her torture gear, "I'm going to have a lot of fun with them all.".

* * *

Yuri awoke with his head feeling like it was a lead weight, he had woken up like this before when he drank with Shinji but it didn't mean he had to enjoy the feeling. "I think I'm going to be sick…" he heard Asuka groan from somewhere, "Hey… is everyone here." he managed to say, even though his mouth felt like it was full of sand. "Yeah… except Blanca, he was the smart one." Gepetto groaned as he steadied himself against the wall, "But he'll get us out right?" Lucia asked, "He will. He wont just leave us here." Yuri explained as he heard the sound of heels clicking on the stone, coming towards them, "Now what?".

"Hello my pets!" Veronica announced as she reached the bottom of the short staircase, striking a quick pose she gracefully made her way over to the cells door, "Oh great its you…" Asuka grumbled with annoyance as Veronica made a disgusted face at her, "You wont be like that for long my dear. Now which one of you would like to have the first chance to be my slave?" Yuri shook his head and grumbled something under his breath which he was glad the crazy whip wielder didn't hear.

However she did single him out merely because he was the only one not looking at her, "You! You can have the first chance to submit to me and serve out the rest of your days as my pet." Yuri didn't really know how to reply to that as several guards entered and opened his cell.

Part of him was terrified, part of him was actually curious which worried him even more.

* * *

Blanca looked around the corner and saw two guards standing at the far end, talking among themselves about trying to find him not that they would succeed. Waiting for the two guards to split up he quickly made his way past where they had been standing and down the staircase, he had to run back up three levels just to loose the guards that had managed to keep up with him after the others had succumbed to the sleeping gas. After loosing them he would have to find where Yuri and the others were before it was too late, even though he could look after himself he still didn't want to chance it in case he found someone that was too powerful to handle alone.

Seeing a guard walk out of the hallway ahead of him he saw that there was a set of keys hanging from his belt, on the chance that Yuri and the others were stuck in cells he knew that getting them would be useful. 'Only how am I going to get them?' he thought as he ducked around the corner and waited for the guard to get closer only to for him to stop just short of where he was.

Moving back further along the hallway where he was hiding he began scratching on the floor as loud as he could to draw the guard in before he quickly dashed into an alcove and waited for the fool to get close enough. He was right as he jumped and tackled the guard, knocking his head on the stone wall and knocking him out cold, he waited briefly in case anyone had heard the commotion. When no one came he dragged the guard further down the corridor and ripped the keys off his belt, holding them in his mouth so they didn't jingle about as he made his way through the prison.

'Now I've got to find them…' putting his nose to the ground he began sniffing his way back to the room where they had been separated, being careful not to loose their scents over all the smells covering the original trail.

* * *

When the others saw Yuri get dragged back in they could only wonder what had happened to him when he was dragged away. "What the hell happened to you?" Asuka asked once the guards had left, "… I don't want to say…" he said sounding groggy and distant, "Yuri? Are you going to be alright?" Karin asked, "Yuri?" she asked when he didn't reply right away.

"She hooked me up to some kind of generator… I feel like crap…" he groaned as he tried to stop the room from spinning around him, "Chin up kiddo, at least that's all she did. She strikes me as the short who would do a lot worse." Gepetto said as they heard more footsteps coming towards them, Yuri groaned at the thought of another Q&A session with the psycho woman.

There was a collective sigh of relief when a certain white wolf appeared with keys in his mouth, "Thank the heavens!" Gepetto said with a grin as he took the keys off Blanca and unlocked his cell door, before passing it onto the others. Soon all were standing free from their cells and Yuri was thanking Blanca for getting them out so quickly, "Thanks boy, could of gotten here a little sooner though…" his mind drifted back again to the time he had spent with Veronica and he saddened violently, "Come on lets find Roger and get the hell out of here.".

It took them almost an half an hour to find the door leading to Roger and they had to take out a number of guards on the way but they ended up at the only door they hadn't gone through, they hoped. Yuri pushed the door open and couldn't help but laugh when they saw Roger sitting tied to a stone chair at the far end with a iron mask on his face.

"Stop right there!" Lenny said holding his sickle against Roger's neck, "One move and the old man dies.", "Go ahead your not getting the book from me." Yuri said folding his arms, "It seems he figured us out, what a pain." Veronica hummed walking out from behind Lenny, "Well it looks like we have a two for one deal. That's great." Yuri cracked his knuckles and walked forwards, "We'll take you two out and find that bastard Nicolai. See how he likes being stabbed by some weird stick thing.", "Please do you really think it'll be that easy? We're not as weak as you think we are." Veronica said walking forward but Lenny held out a hand to stop her.

"Go warn the boss.", "What?" she asked surprised, "If I can't stop them, they'll be going after the boss next. Warn him." Veronica looked slightly torn on whether or not to stay but stepped back, "Don't get yourself killed Lenny. He'll be angry if you fail now." she said with a small smile, "Don't worry I'm not going to go down easy." he answered confidently before watching her disappear into a puff of purple smoke. "Alright now she's out the way I can finally cut loose." Lenny stepped away from Roger and tossed his sickle away, "I may not have your powers kid but I have a good trick up my sleeve." Lenny cracked his neck and stepped into the centre of the room, "I'm not going to hold back." with that the room was flooded in a white light and where Lenny stood was now replaced with a grey skinned demon with a single giant red clawed hand looking like a crabs claw with three pincers.

"That must have been a soul contract." Yuri mumbled, "I knew someone who did the same thing, we still kicked his ass." Asuka and Karin both drew their swords as Joachim readied his railway timber, "Blanca, Gepetto stay back." Yuri said thinking brute force might be their best bet for keeping the demon infused Lenny at bay. Yuri quickly put on his wrist blades and readied himself for the first move, "Now!" Yuri ran forward with Joachim right behind him.

Going low and following with an uppercut while Joachim swung his heavy timbers down overhead, striking Lenny in the shoulder. However the attacks didn't seem to do much as he kicked Joachim away and punched Yuri with the giant claw, sending him flying past a surprised Karin and straight into the stone wall, knocking the wind out of him.

Karin drew her sword and held it across her chest before it erupted in flame, dragging it quickly along the ground in the direction of Lenny made a corridor of fire engulf him, making him stumble back slightly. "Use magic!" Karin said moving back as Asuka unleashed her abilities and struck Lenny from several possible weak spots from the side and back, she really didn't want to get hit by the claw.

"Yuri! You alright?" Gepetto asked hurrying over to the young man who was clearly still trying to get his head together after the impact, "Good thing I got a hard head…" touching the back of his head, it was a little sore but thankful that there wasn't any blood. "Old man, break out the magic. Take him out." Blanca let out a mighty howl which echoed through the confines of the room, for a moment nothing happened and the others wondered what he had just done but a moment later spirit versions of wolves began to appear and run into Lenny with a great amount of force.

After six of the spirit wolves had hit, Blanca was panting heavily but was alright as he backed up. "Way to go Blanca. Didn't know you had it in you." Yuri slowly got to his feet using the wall for support, watching Joachim break the timbers over Lenny's back as he was forced into kneeling. "Even without a weapon, I will not back down!" he shouted before showing everyone his wrestling abilities, Yuri likeness of the guy went up after seeing him through himself at Lenny's new form without even thinking and began punching and kicking the demon, before he was also battered away by the giant claw, narrowly missing where Yuri was standing.

"Don't tap out yet big guy." Yuri said helping him up, which was a bit hard, "You go left, I'll go right. Gepetto get ready with some magic and hit him hard." both men nodded and Yuri broke off into a run at an angle, kicking off the wall and diving at Lenny as Joachim slammed his hands like a hammer into Lenny's chest as Yuri did the same on his head.

Both stepped back quickly as a light crest slammed into Lenny, just before he went into a berserk frenzy and slammed his claw through the stone wall before he slumped to his knees, returning to his human form, "Damn it!" he said out of breath as he punched the wall. "Give up Lenny. This can stop right here." Yuri said catching his breath, "I really don't want to finish this.", "It doesn't matter… This is my path." before anyone could stop him, he threw himself out of the hole and into the waters below.

"Why did he jump?", "Maybe he didn't have a choice. Their boss may of done it for him. At least this way he had a choice." Gepetto said running his hand through his beard, "Alright can we get going before their boss decides to show up?" Asuka asked getting a nod from Karin, "Asuka's right. We don't know who or were this man is. And Veronica could come back with another one of her pets." she shivered upon saying it.

"Hey Roger you alright?" Yuri asked the robed man as he unclamped the iron mask from his face, "I would say so. About time you showed up." Yuri just laughed softly as he helped him to his feet, "You ready to go?", "Is it safe?", "Of course it is. Who do you think your talking to?", "Do you want me to answer that?" Roger asked raising an eyebrow.

"Funny. Look Roger these are my friends, everyone this is Roger Bacon. Warlock and general pain in the ass.", "My not quite what I was expecting." Gepetto said looking at the warlock, "Watch it you old geezer, he's older then you. Way older." Roger looked at Karin, Asuka and Lucia and walked over, "And you are?" he asked, "My name is Karin. This is Asuka and Lucia." Roger knew who Asuka was, he had heard all the stories but didn't drop his straight face.

"Well I think it would be best if we left before the remains of those fools come back." Roger said walking towards the door, "Come on. I have something I must speak to you about Yuri. It is very important." Yuri could guess what it was about, but it was something he and Roger had come up with. He could only hope Shinji would never find out.

"So what's up then?", "The leader of S.G is a powerful magician named Rasputin is currently in Russia, with close ties to the royal family.", "Okay so that makes him almost untouchable right?" Lucia asked, "Yes. But in order to topple this group. He must be removed. I came close once, but I was barely able to escape." Yuri turned to Roger with an uneasy look on his face, "But your powerful…", "I was wounded at the time, when I got to him I was barely able to stand by myself." somehow Yuri actually felt better upon hearing this. It meant he might have a fair chance of actually beating him when they found him.

"So I guess our next stop is Russia then?", "Hang on there kiddo." Gepetto said stepping in front of them, "If he is as close to the royal family as you said he is then if we knock him off then it would be like declaring war on Russia itself. Now I don't care how good a fighter you are, you'd be hard pressed to beat the entire Russian army.", "Your right. We'd be walking into a meat grinder." Asuka mentioned, "Think about it. Getting there shouldn't be too hard. Getting into the palace might be a little harder but taking out someone as powerful as he is without getting our butts handed to us by the entire country… well that's something I don't fancy trying.".

"We need a plan." Joachim said, "Maybe we can get him to leave…", "No." Roger cut in shaking his head, "From what I hear he rarely leaves the palace and when he does it is always in public areas. So trying to kill him in private will be next to impossible." Roger let out a small sigh, "I really hope that someone had killed him already." Yuri suddenly snapped his fingers, "Not everyone can like him, right?" Yuri asked Roger, "That man has an attitude that would curdle milk. So it's possible there are people who wish to see him removed.".

"There you have it, if we can do that quietly then we'd be alright wouldn't we?" Yuri asked the group aloud, "That would work if we ask the right people." Roger wondered to himself, "Let's try it! It's the best thing I can think of so lets go." Roger followed them back to the mainland where they made their travel arrangements to Russia.

* * *

Shinji lay on the grass outside the house with Arisu balancing herself on his stomach, it was one of his days off and he was taken full advantage of it by doing nothing. He didn't have to do much until the storm season which was a few weeks away, and he was getting easy assignments when working with Kawashima so it had been an easy week for him.

"Arisu… You're such a good girl." Shinji said as he continued to watch his daughter balance herself with her arms as he moved his stomach in different directions in small movements, "Yes you are." he cooed at her as she grinned widely at him, "Well well this is a good sight." looking up he saw a familiar looking curl of blonde hair, "Margarete? I didn't know you were coming!" picking up Arisu he got to his feet and hugged the woman, "I'm not really. I'm just passing through on my way to Paris, and I had to stop by." the light purple dress she wore was a far different sight then what he had last seen her in, "Say hello to one of your godmothers Arisu." he said waving her hand at Margarete, "You really suit being a father Shinji. You really fit the role.", "Thanks… That means a lot to me. So how are things? Last time we heard from you, you were still in America with Keith. How is he?", "Good the last time we saw each other." she answered with a sigh.

"What happened?", "He got a telegram from a relative. He had to go back to the castle, that was about a month ago. But I sent him a message saying to meet me in Paris if he can spare the time.", "So are you two…?", "Yes. We're sleeping together." Shinji turned Arisu away, covering her ears, "Don't say that out loud. She's only a baby." Margarete just laughed loudly, covering her mouth trying to stop herself.

"She can't even understand what I'm saying, can you sweetie?" she asked Arisu who just giggled, "See? Is Misato inside?", "Yeah. I think mother is too. So you three can catch up.", "What are you going to do?" Shinji sat back down and bounced Arisu up and down on his knee, "I'm going to play with my daughter." he said with a grin.

Margarete walked inside the house and was greeted by Misato's cheerful grin, "Margarete!" she sang grabbing the woman into a Misato brand hug, taking her completely by surprise, "Misato… can't breathe!" she said trying to get free from her iron grip, "Sorry…" she chuckled letting her go. "Yui! Margarete's here!" Misato called into the house and she stepped out of the kitchen with an apron on, "Cooking something up?" Margarete asked, "Yes…" she answered sheepishly, "What's wrong?", "She's just a little embarrassed about not knowing…" Misato was stopped when Yui clamped her hand over her friends mouth, "That's enough out of you Misato.", "She's a little jealous of Shinji's skill in the kitchen." she blurted out after prying herself free, "Misato!" Yui went bright red as Margarete joined in laughing with Misato.

"It's nothing to laugh about." she pouted folding her arms, "It's just… I'm making up for all these years apart. I haven't cooked him a meal in years.", "And a mothers touch is always the best." Margarete said with a big smile, "I don't think you have to do that Yui, but I'm sure Shinji will love it.".

Yui held up a wooden spoon which she was using, "I know…", "Now how about we catch up for a moment. Sadly I'm only passing through on my way to Paris. But as I said to the caring father out there, I'll be back when my business is finished.", "Good. It seems like ages since we last sat down together." Yui said heading back into the kitchen with Misato and Margarete following her. For the a solid hour they chatted about how they met and some of there time together, as well as what they had been up to recently. "So that's why Keith isn't with you, I was wondering about that. You two look really nice together." Yui said thoughtfully, causing Margarete to blush heavily, "Look! She's blushing" Misato started to quickly tease blonde spy about her reaction.

"What's all the laughing about?" Shinji asked walking in with Arisu in his arms, who quickly tried to reach out to Misato, "Awww. She want's her mommy." Misato reached out and took her daughter who soon fell asleep, "She's a gem isn't she?" Margarete asked, "I'm so happy for you both.", "When you meet up with Keith again you should take him out for dinner. You'll be in Paris after all." Yui mentioned making her blush again, "Keith is a nice guy Margaret I don't think he'd say no." Shinji said adding his opinion.

"You know you lot really aren't helping me cope with this." she mumbled, "Relax Margarete we're just having a bit of fun." Misato only for Shinji to cough at the remark earning him a glare from her.

"Got something to say mister?". "No, not at all." Shinji quickly left the room and went into the kitchen, knowing that Misato could easily made a grab for him if he kept pointing out things that went against her.

* * *

"I'd forgotten it was this cold." Yuri mumbled as he walked through the streets of Petrograd, Blanca seemed to smile at him as he was fine with the weather, "So ideas?" he asked as they walked, "Find the palace and then find people who can help us get close to this Rasputin." Gepetto answered, "Don't know exactly where to start? Can't exactly ask people to help us kill him.", "I know that! Look can we just somewhere warm? I'm freezing out here.".  
"Speak for yourself." Lucia said, seeing how she was still wearing the same dress from Italy which really wasn't made for cold weather, "I need a coat!" Yuri and Gepetto snuck a glance at her but were smacked around the head by Karin and Asuka, "Perverts!" both women knew exactly what they were trying to look at, "Hear Lucia have my coat. I've got an extra layer anyway." Asuka said handing over her military coat to the fortune teller.

"Thank you so much!" she quickly hugged her and clearly the red head wasn't expecting it, "Okay now get off please." they were rudely pushed aside by a small girl in a blue coat run past them holding a camera, "Hey! Watch were your going kid!" Asuka called out but the girl just ignored her as she rushed off towards the river. "Jeez that was rude." Yuri said, "I maybe rude but I still apologize for bumping into people.", "You know that sounded really stupid didn't you?" Asuka said giving Yuri a strange look.

"Anyway…" Gepetto said loudly trying to get the conversation back on track, "Look we've got a description of this Rasputin guy. Lets just keep an eye out on our way towards the palace. He may have been told what we look like so it would be better to be careful.", "Your right we don't know if anyone could be watching us." Joachim said not being effected by the cold at all. They soon reached the main road leading to the palace and was about to turn onto it when they heard a young girls scream from behind them, "Great what now?" looking round they caught a glimpse of a purple flying demon with just a tail dive into an alley, "Come on." they headed straight for the alley and saw the small girl who had bumped into them backing away from the demon, "Hey!" Yuri shouted getting the demons attention as it turned slowly towards them, only for Yuri to jump up and kick it into the wall of the alley, Asuka moved quickly behind Karin as they lashed out with their swords, shredding the wings of the creature as it tried to take flight.

Yuri knew straight away it was a very weak demon in terms of strength as its power laid with its magic abilities, not that it did it much good as Yuri slammed him foot down onto the demons head, crushing it. The groups eyes were suddenly filled with a flash of light as the girl lowered her camera from the creatures now dissolving body, "Thank you so much for your assistance." she said bowing formerly, "If you hadn't of come to save me I don't know what I would of done.". "Who are you? And why was that demon after you?" Yuri asked checking over his shoulder in case there was another one nearby.

"It had to of been that evil Rasputin, he must know I'm onto him.", "What?", "Rasputin. He acting all friendly to my family but I know he's up to something, which is why I followed him from the palace. And I saw him meeting someone shady and then he sent that…", "Alright calm down and take a breath." Yuri said looking at everyone, "Does that mean she's?" Karin asked pointing at the girl, "I hope not or this has just gotten a lot more complicated." Gepetto mumbled.

"My name is Anastasia Romanov, pleased to meet you." she said soundly extremely cheerful, "Oh Christ… we're screwed." Gepetto groaned, "Excuse me! Mind your language in front of a princess." Yuri just shook his head, "We're on thin ice…", "Come with me everyone!" she declared as she walked out of the alley leaving the others behind, "The only good thing I see coming of this is getting close to Rasputin. And that is all." Yuri groaned as Gepetto said it, "Perfect just bloody perfect. Stuck with that bundle of annoyance.".

She led them down away from the palace and into a small watch store where an old man with white hair and a monocle stood looking worried, "Ah Princess there you are I was worried sick when you just ran out like that.", "Oh Edger. Don't worry I was perfectly fine, these people saved me." they just waved at the watch maker, "Thank you all for helping her." the old man bowed showing the bald patch on the top of his head. "Oh Edger I was right about Rasputin! He is up to something and I have proof!" she said holding up her camera, "I didn't give you that camera so you can spy on people." he said sounding tired of the girls antics.

"I'm so sorry about this. She believes Rasputin is up to something and she just can't resist poking her nose around.", "Don't worry as it turns out we actually have some business with him." Yuri said as Anastasia walked behind Edger, who suddenly looked very stern, "You work for him don't you!?" the princess accused them, "Hey calm down a second. We don't work for anyone.", "Then why do you want to see him?", "Because he tried to hurt a friend of mine and I want some payback." he said smiling.

* * *

They spent the next half an hour explain everything to Anastasia about S.G and what had happened in Europe to them, she was surprised at some parts of it but on others she just nodded as if she was expecting it to happen. "So you want to take out Rasputin?" she asked, "Yeah. He's the head of this whole group. We've already taken out one of his goons but that isn't really enough. So we want to try and throw the entire group into chaos if we can.", "I can get you into the palace easy enough. But my mother… she's taken a liking to him because he's healed my brother of his illness." she suddenly looked really sad, "But until my father returns he's all but running the country and I won't… I can't allow that." she said with determination.

"Well it looks like we can help each other. Good." Yuri smiled as he began to figure out how to plan to take out the mad monk. "We'll need to get close to him. If Roger is as powerful as he said he was then we'll need to hit him hard and fast or else he'll have a chance to use his powers." Gepetto explained, seeing how Roger had gone back to Wales to retrieve something for them he was the one to remember everything that the old warlock had said.

After being able to sneak in with the staff through a side entrance which they gladly ignored because of the princess, they found out that there was a ball being planned and they had to lay low in the princess's room until it was time to see Rasputin and then they planned to beat him into the ground before he had a chance to summon any demons, at least that was Yuri's plan.

"So when's this party meant to start exactly?" Yuri asked as they sat in the bedroom of the princess, "About half an hour give or take. But we'll have to move quickly if we want to reach him before he begins to mingle with the guests.", "She's right, the last thing we want to do is cause an international incident." Asuka said before looking at Yuri who seemed to be deep in thought, "We're not going to cause an international incident!" she said through gritted teeth, "You say that, but I'll warn you, again. That trouble seems to follow me.".

"Whatever lets just hope nothing like that happens. If we have too I guess we could just throw him into an empty room and beat him senseless.", "Tempting but we have to make sure that the Tsar and Tsarina know that Rasputin is not as loyal as they would like to believe." Karin said trying not to let the conversation descend into an argument, "My mom and dad, know what's right. I can convince them." Anastasia said with pride as they heard the announcements being made, "Come on, lets go!".

Leading them out into the halls of the winter palace she led them towards the royal chamber which was being the hall being used for the ball, they got attention from the royal guards but since they saw the princess smiling they had guess she invited them and made no move to stop them.

"It's just up ahead. Come on!" she said as they made their way through the hall where guests had already started to gather, dressed in gowns and suits.

The Tsarina was with Alexi, and Rasputin when they entered and instantly Yuri brought his fists up. "Well, well it seems the princess has finally been found.", "No thanks to you!" Anastasia said sticking her tongue out at Rasputin, "And who are your guests? People from the west?", "Yes… but they saved me when I was attacked by the monster you sent after me.", "What are you planning Rasputin? I mean first your playing two sides against each other to cover your plans." Yuri said, "Then you have your idiot flunky stab me with the mistletoe, which isn't exactly working. And now your trying to do something here?", "Your smarter then you look… Godslayer." Rasputin said with a dark smile.

"I wouldn't push your luck!" Yuri ran and him and slammed his fist into a barrier he had thrown up without moving, "Stop this! Anastasia come here!" the Tsarina said holding her son close to her, "Mother!", "Guards! They tried to attack the Tsarina!" he shouted as Yuri ran back, "Shit! Lets go!", "But…", "We can't do anything!" Joachim said as he pulled Asuka back out the door, "Princess!" Karin shouted as she ran over to them and let Yuri pick her up.

"This isn't over! Not by a long shot!", "I look forward to it Godslayer." flipping him the bird Yuri ran to join the others at the other end of the hall and let Joachim lead the way as a human battering ram, knocking any guards to the ground, hearing the words, "They've kidnapped the princess!" echoing through the halls behind them.

Hurrying through the halls they managed to burst out the front doors and into the main square in front of the palace, "Head for the river!" Gepetto said as they headed towards the southern bridge leading away from the square, he hoped to use the river causeways to get ahead of the guards and reach the outskirts.

"How the hell are we going to get out of here? Roger's in Wales!" Yuri said after remembering that he had said that he would be picking up a easier mode of transport for them.

* * *

Reaching the outskirts they saw that they were far ahead of the guards and could slow down, "Great… I have no idea what we're going to do now." Karin said running her hand down her face in frustration, "We can't head back to the city. And we certainly can't head to Europe at the moment." Gepetto said, "Rusputin's group are likely to be all over the place so there wouldn't be anywhere to hide." Asuka looked over and saw Yuri looking into the sky.

"What do you think Yuri?", "Japan… We'll head to Japan." he didn't want to drag Shinji, Misato and Yui into the mess they had landed in but it would be the safest place for them to stay while they figure out what to do. "Why there?" Lucia asked, "My friend and his wife life there… I don't want to drag them into this but I cant see another way to do this.", "Will he be able to get to us there?" Anastasia asked out of concern, "Doubt it. The village they live in is surrounded by powerful spirits, I guess you could say they have a contract with the head of the village, she's a nice woman though.".

Before anyone could answer they heard the deep roaring of something getting closer and closer to them and saw something flying towards them. "What the hell is that!?" Yuri shouted as everyone shielded their faces from the dust that was kicked up from the aircraft landing in front of them.

After everything had settled a small hatched opened and a boarding ramp was lowered, "Sorry I'm late everyone." looking up they saw Roger standing at the top waving at them, "Now that's pretty good timing Roger!" Yuri said as they climbed up the ramp, "Where are we heading now?", "Japan." Roger gave him an odd look and nodded, "I hope you know what your doing.", "I do. But we can't stay here so get this crate up into the air.", "Don't call my Bacon Jet a crate! It's a work of art!" he shouted from the cockpit.

* * *

Well here we go. One more chapter and Shinji and Yuri get back together, and Asuka finds out about Shinji. Find out next week!


	8. Chap 8: Inside the Mind of A God Slayer

I have to admit I was tempted to leave out this whole Goreme Valley section. I just couldn't fit it in on my first draft, but got there in the end. Don't know if I will be updating over December as I really need to get as many extra shifts at work as I can get. That being said I just hope I don't end up missing three weeks of work again because I get here it is…

* * *

Yuri had expected to head straight to Japan but Roger had told them that they need to make a detour before they headed over there. Roger said that someone at Goreme Valley could help make Yuri stronger but he would have to go through a spiritual journey in order to do it.

Early the next day they arrived at the Valley, they had left the jet on the outskirts of the settlement so to not disturb the residents. The settlement itself was carved into the side of the valley rock and traders had set up shop in front of them, the whole place had a peaceful air to it which was welcomed by everyone after the last few weeks.

"So this is the Goreme valley? Roger who are we looking for?" Yuri asked the warlock but was stopped when they heard the cocking of a number of rifles as people appeared from behind rocks and out of alcoves armed and not looking too friendly.

Everyone raised their hands as the rifles stayed on them, "Don't shoot them!" a British voice called out, "Lower your weapons!" they saw the familiar man and were relieved, "Lawrence! You're a sight for sore eyes." Roger said with a smile, "Roger. Your meant to be in Wales." the Englishman said with a smile as he walked down towards them, he dismissed the armed people and turned to the group.

"Carla sends her greetings by the way." he said to the group before turning to the Roger, "I take it you're here to see the bishop?", "Yes. Is he accepting visitors?", "It's a little dicey at the moment. You see the Turks don't know we're here and everyday it's a fight just to stay hidden. Everyone fears that their going to loose their homes, their freedom…" he trailed off as he looked back at the valley settlement.

"Come, I'll take you to see the bishop.", "Thank you." Roger said as Lawrence introduced himself to everyone as Thomas Edward Lawrence a member of the British Intelligence Service.

Leading them through the valley they found that everyone had now turned very friendly, clearly Thomas had a lot of pull with them, they arrived at the stone halls leading into the inner area of the church which had been carved into the stone of the valley.

In front of the church they saw a elderly man kneeling in prayer, his greying hair rested on his green robed shoulders, but clashed with his tanned skin, "Bishop Jovis Abraham… the former leader of Sapientes Gladio." everyone looked at Roger who was shocked at what he had just said, "Roger?… What are you talking about?", "I'll answer that." Jovis said getting to his feet, Thomas went to help him but was waved off, "Roger. It's been a long time hasn't it?", "Too long. I'm glad to see your well Abraham.".

Jovis nodded with a serene smile on his face, "As I was saying I was the former leader of Sapientes Gladio… something which had haunted me to this very day. I take it you are aware of Rasputin? The new leader? Well, I had tried to stop him before he had gotten too powerful, but I failed." Jovis looked ashamed of himself but Roger spoke in his defence, "You can't blame yourself, Rasputin had been practising the dark magic's for years. I doubt I'd be able to stand against him now." Roger said mirroring Jovis's sad expression, "However that is why I have brought the boy here." he said giving Yuri a shove forward.

Jovis looked at Yuri without saying a word, to others it seemed like he was staring into his soul and he was surprised with what he found. "I see… you have the soul of Amon. But something is stopping it from surfacing.", "The Holy Mistletoe." Yuri answered, "That explains it. Would you like to release the seals that blocks it?" Jovis asked, "If it means beaten Rasputin, then yes.".

"Very well. I thought I was right about Amon. It felt like an old friend had come to back to visit. Not that I could see him mind you…" Yuri looked closer and saw that the mans eyes had become glazed over, "Your blind…" the young princess whispered, "Only to certain things young princess of Russia." he said with a smile which surprised everyone.

"However let me tell me you a little about Rasputin, this should give you some insight about what kind of man he was and now is." Jovis took a seat on one of the wooden pews and gestured them to sit, "That was when it all began. I was betrayed by my disciple, and forsaken by my friend... My friend and I had just taken in a young Rasputin as our new disciple." Jovis sighed as the memories began to flood back.

"But time passed... And soon Rasputin had gained the power he needed to fulfill his ambitions. That was when he showed his true self. Recognizing his madness too late, my friend and I tried to fight him. But we were quickly undone by the demonic power he wielded... The two of us were banished and Rasputin became the new leader. He has made a soul pact with the King of Demons, Asmodeus. That is what shields him and protects his mortal flesh." Jovis finished taking in their silence. "So that's why I couldn't land a hit on him? He's got a soul pact… I hate those things." Yuri mumbled bitterly.

"But within you, young man, is the power to break through his shield. The power of Amon is truly great. My friend tried to change the world by summoning a god that would shatter the heavens themselves, I became fearful…" Yuri's head shot up and knew it sounded familier, "Hey wait a minute…" Jovis continued without pausing.

"My friend lost his confidence in me and, in order to battle Asmodeus, he made a soul pact with the most powerful demon he could find. ...Yes, the God of Wrath, Amon. But the soul of Amon is now sealed within you. Why is this so? Because you defeated my friend and conquered the will of Amon. And so when the god which was summoned turned to light and was crushed by you, my friend's soul disappeared within you as well." Yuri looked surprised as he stared at the old priest, "Are you saying that your friend was…", "Yes. He was Cardinal Albert Simon.".

Yuri shook his head and looked like he was going to start laughing, "That's rich… so let me get this straight." he turned to Jovis and crossed his arms, "Are you saying that my friends and I beat Albert because he was trying to change the world in order to stop Rasputin?", "Yes." came his simple reply which caused Yuri to burst out in laughter.

"So good old Albert is somewhere inside my soul?", "That is correct and if I know him, he's guarding Amon's soul and protecting it from the curse of the mistletoe.", "You know about it then?", "Oh yes I sensed it the moment you arrived in the valley.". "What will it do to me?", "Drive you insane… but I sense that you weren't hit directly but it so there is a chance for you yet. But I will say that even the strongest wills fall to the curse eventually.". Everyone saw the sceptical look on Yuri's face but at the same time saw that he took the warning seriously inside.

"Alright… how do I get inside my soul then. I think its time to let Amon out to play again." he said with a smirk, "I will warn you that if you fail that it could mean your death…", "Way to kill the mood.", "Young man this will be a journey for both of us. I will be accompanying you.", "Bishop Jovis, you can't…" Karin butted in, "I will go in your place.".

Jovis seemed genuinely surprised but agreed none the less, Karin looked at Yuri who went to argue for her to stay but he gave up when she saw the serious look on her face. "Your seriously wanting to do this?", "Yes I am Yuri." Karin said, "I'll be fine. I swear.", "I'll warn you. My soul, isn't exactly a walk in the park." he said, his tone serious as the others looked on. "Only two others have been in there… I'm only warning you the once, it has gotten… hairy at times.".

"Take a moment to compose yourselves and when you are ready come to that room. I'll be waiting." Jovis pointed to a metal door with the symbol for Sapientes Gladio on the door, "We'll perform the ritual in there." Jovis disappeared into the room without another word leaving the group in the main hall of the church. "Are you guys really going to do this?" Asuka asked, "It's insane.", "Indeed we cannot help you if you go." Joachim said as Lucia and Gepetto nodded in agreement, "Look guys if we're going to finish Rasputin then we're going to need Amon's power.", "It's crazy." Asuka added, "You've already said that Asuka. I'm going and that's final." Karin said firmly.

"Come on lets just this thing started." nodding, Karin followed him into the room that bishop Jovis had entered and found him waiting for them on the other side of a square stone table with small candles along the edges, "You are ready?" he asked, "Yes. What do we need to do.", "Lay next to each other on the table and take the others hand in your own." Yuri looked at Karin and they both blushed, "A-alright." Yuri said taking the first step, "If it helps I would of held your hand as well if I was the one doing it." Yuri paused and couldn't help but picture the image and shook his head, "Was that a joke?", "Just because I'm old doesn't mean I don't have a sense of humour.".

As they took each others hands the smell of incense filled the air as Jovis began to chant something neither of them understood.

* * *

Blinking once they found themselves standing inside Yuri's soul graveyard, which had changed since Yuri had last been to it, from what was once a small graveyard was now a stone circle with four doors at even intervals around it, in the middle was a dead looking tree in the centre. "Is this… your soul?" Karin asked, "Yeah. It's a little less cheerful then last time… but a lots happened since then." turning his head to one side she could of sworn he mumbled something about masks. "Where do we go?", "This way. I think…" walking to the centre door they entered another stone circle with three doors, "There it is…" he said stopping at a carved stone door which looked like it belonged in some old crypt, on either side stood two robed figures holding mighty swords, it looked very imposing to both of them.

"In we go…" pushing the doors open they were surprised to find themselves standing in a extremely lavish building hallway, the floors shone with a mirror like shine and everything seemed to have been meticulously cleaned, "Wow… this is better then the Winter Palace." Yuri said as he took in the view, "It's impressive but do we know where we're meant to be going?" Karin asked, "Nope. But we can only go onwards at the moment." seeing he was right they walked along the corridor, surprised that the amount of mirrors lined along the wall.

"I'll say that the amount of mirrors is a little unsettling." Karin said as the sound of her heeled boots clicked along the marble floor, "Mirrors are meant to hold mystical power in some cultures, maybe they just like the look." Yuri shrugged as they reached the end of the corridor after two turns in the hall. Seeing the only way forward was through a mirror Yuri tapped it in case it was some sort of hidden door.

As soon as his fingertips touched the smooth surface of the mirror there was a strange sound like a yak getting strangled, and their reflections came out of the mirror. "What the…" Yuri wondered aloud just as his copy took a swing at him, thankfully without his wrist blades, dodging back he slammed his fist into his copies face knocking him back into the mirror.

Karin dodged out of the way before her copy brought its sword down onto her head, "This is your soul Yuri? Can't you do something?" she asked parrying with her own sword as she dodged another wide swing, "Your talking to a guy who threw himself at a god to fuse with it! I'm not exactly the brightest bulb in the closet!" he watched his face twist in pain as he delivered a powerful uppercut, snapping his copies head back and flooring him for good. Karin dodged a thrust and slashed out, hitting her copy but doing no visible damage as they found themselves on the other side of the mirror that Yuri had touched.

"Oh I see… The mirrors are doors then?" Yuri asked as he looked around the new corridor they were now in, "At least there's a door this time." Karin said pointing down the hall to the green wooden door was, "Lets go then.". Arriving at the door he gave it a tap with his foot and looked around to make sure nothing was going to jump out at them or anything.

"Come on…" Karin sighed pushing the door open she gently shoved Yuri inside and they found themselves in a luxurious study with another mirror at the far end next to the fire place, "Jovis…?", "I'm glad you reached here safely. I was beginning to worry." Jovis explained, "I wasn't expecting to be attacked in my own soul!" Yuri said not impressed, "I could not see into your soul, so I couldn't be sure on whether you'd be attacked or not.", "You could of at least warned us." they saw Jovis give a small smile, "Why did you think I said that it would be fatal if you fail?".

"So I take it that all we have to do is find our way through this place to find Albert, right?", "Yes. All you have to do is reach the ballroom, but you will have to find your own way. But be warned that you will have to go through the mirrors but they are only one way, so you wont be able to retrace your steps." nodding in understanding they touched the mirror that Jovis was standing in and they passed through.

They found themselves staring at a mirror image of the room they had just been in, the only difference with the room was that everything had flipped around, "I guess we're going that way." Yuri said pointing to the only door in the room.

Entering into another corridor they began to slowly walk along it making sure that they didn't end up walking face first into a trap. "Yuri can I ask you something?" Karin asked decided to fill the silence between them, "Sure go ahead?", "Why exactly are we going to Japan? I can't help but think that there is something your not telling us?", "What!?" he asked stopping soundly genuinely surprised, "What are you talking about? I already said that my friend and his wife live there, they'll let us stay with them so we can figure out our next step.".

"I know but it just seems like your hiding something…" Karin mumbled as she walked past him, not seeing Yuri gulping as he let out a sigh of relief, he really didn't want to tell Karin about Shinji in-case she passed it onto Asuka which would be the worse thing he could do to his closest friend.

"I don't lie to people Karin, never have done. Just let it go so we can do this without getting killed." ahead of them they saw three transparent figures step out into the hallway, two where tall and thin while the other was short and large, "Looks like I spoke to soon." seeing that they weren't fighting doubles again Yuri seemed to take his time and picked up a chair from the hall and swung it in an overhead throw. The three figures seemed to look up for a brief moment before the chair smashed into the tall thin one on the right of the hall and knocked him to the ground, the other two stared at him before running towards Karin and Yuri.

Yuri kicked another chair at the transparent figures only for them to smash it aside with enough force to shatter it against the wall, "Look out!" Yuri grabbed Karin who had moved in front of him and pulled her back with one hand while pushing himself forward at the same time and delivered a strong head butt to the nearest one, giving her enough time to draw her sword.

Slashing at the remaining figure she grunted in frustration as it dodged out the way by bending over backwards, but she followed through and quickly stabbed down through his stomach as Yuri ploughed the shorter one into the wall head first before delivering a knock out blow.

* * *

They continued through the halls and found that it was very easy to get turned around as they passed the wrecked chairs twice before finding the correct path and found themselves standing in front of an elegant set of wooden doors flanked on either side by two large statues, one of an angelic woman with flourishing wings while the other was of a robed man with darker wings holding at book. "Life and Death. Looks like this is the place…" Yuri mumbled as he went to push the doors open only to be stopped by Karin, "Are you sure about this?", "This is the only way. If I can't use Amon's soul then we'll never be able to beat him." pushing the doors open he saw the marble floor of the ballroom with a very large oval mirror in a wooden frame at the far end.

"Well my boy this truly is a stepping stone for you." a British voice said making him look around to find him in some sort of extravagant palace or luxury hall, "Who's there?", "Come now. It hasn't been that long since we last met?" looking at the far end of the hall he saw a large mirror with someone standing in it.

"Come closer Yuri I don't want to shout. I'm not going to hurt you." getting closer Yuri saw who it was, "Albert Simon? It really is you, huh.", "Just Albert, Yuri. I was wondering when we would meet again. I must say I've been watching you closely and I'm impressed with your resolve but I will say this… don't do anything stupid. You may of lost much, but don't loose what you have left." Albert said taking off his top hat and dusting it. "I know… and I don't plan to.", "That's what I want to hear. I guess I can give you my gift now.", "Gift? You mean Amon? Right?", Albert smiled as he lifted his walking stick and pointed it at Yuri's heart, "Exactly.".

"I thought I couldn't use Amon because of the Mistletoe thingy?" Yuri asked slightly confused, "Partially, but after dear Alice passed on I took it upon myself to try and control your abilities to the extent that you didn't do anything stupid.", "Wait! Your really inside me? I thought Jovis was just making a joke." Albert nodded while smiling, "Of course. Amon was my soul pact to begin with, when you took it then you also got a part of me as well. Jovis rarely makes jokes." he watched as Yuri shuddered and clearly didn't like the whole idea.

"How do I get you out?" Yuri asked bluntly, "I choose when I go Yuri. But I can help you, Amon is just the first step. There is a hidden power inside him, and it is something that I can help you achieve. Something that could very well crush any foe in your path." resting both hands on his walking stick he smiled, "But first Amon. Walk through the mirror and you will unlock the seals I put on Amon to keep him safe from the Mistletoe's curse." Yuri nodded and slowly walked towards the mirror, not having any reason to distrust Albert anymore.

However he stopped next to Albert and smiled, "You know if this is a trick I'll come back and kick your ass all the way around this place.", "I'd like to see you try my boy." Albert said smiling slightly, "There's the Albert I remember." Yuri gave him a pat on the back as he walked through the mirror, which felt to him like water.

He found himself in darkness but could feel the ground beneath him, "Alright what now Albert?" he asked hoping that the British warlock would answer him, however he got his answer when the intimidating form of Amon appeared in front of him with it's wings folded around him like a cloak. Raising his fists Yuri thought he was about to go into a messy fight but Amon merely walked forward and disappeared into him, it was then Yuri felt as if his soul was free of a heavy burden.

Karin stared as she watched the mighty demon vanish into thin air in front of her very eyes, she looked at Albert who had yet to acknowledge her, who watched as Yuri steadied his breathing while he rested his hands on his knees, "Yuri? Are you alright?" she asked concerned that he was going to collapse.

"I feel fantastic. I'd forgotten how good it feels not to have that damn curse stopping me." Yuri hopped back onto his feet and gave a little grin at Albert, "I'll give you that Albert, it feels good to have Amon back were he belongs.", "Even after such a short time of him being sealed it had made a strain on your soul. After freeing him he will help balance out your soul and help you recover…" Yuri didn't need further explanation on what he meant. He was still in pain over the death of Alice even if he wouldn't admit it, he could still feel it. "Oh and Yuri...", "Yeah?" Albert took several steps towards Yuri, "I hope you know what your doing with taking that Asuka girl over to Japan...", "I'm not going to let anything happen." he whispered back firmly, nodding Albert stepped away with a smirk which annoyed Yuri somewhat.

"Are we done here?" Yuri asked the spiritual warlock, "Yes, you may return to the mortal plane. But give Jovis my thanks, its nice to have company." he let out a joyous laugh as he turned to Karin, "My dear, keep an eye on this one. As you may already know, trouble has a habit of finding him.", "Oi watch it old man." Yuri warned in jest as he turned to leave, "Come on Karin lets go. Jovis we're done!" Yuri called out hoping the bishop could bring them back, they got their answer when everything went white.

* * *

Opening their eyes they found themselves on the stone table inside the chapel, with Jovis standing over them with a gentle smile. "I'm glad you found your way back… I had my worries.", "Thanks bishop, Albert sends his best by the way. I honestly thought you were joking when you said he was inside me.", "It doesn't matter now. You have Amon correct?" Yuri nodded as he helped Karin up, "Then you now have the power to face Rasputin directly.". "Not right away… its still to dangerous for us to go back now. We're heading to Japan until they begin to loose interest.", "I guess that would be safer for everyone." Jovis spoke as he sat down on the stone table, "But either way I wish you well.", "Are you alright bishop?" Karin asked, "Yes my dear. Just tired… Laurence will show you back to your ship. I must sleep." Yuri helped him to his feet and walked back to his private room.

Walking back out to the others who had made themselves busy outside in the valley during their time in Yuri's soul. "So what was it like? I would of guess he'd drive you insane or something?" Asuka smirked as she held a newly sharpened and polished sword in her hands, "Hey! We managed to get Amon back, so there!" Yuri said sticking out his tongue childishly at Asuka, "It was fine, actually Asuka. Not much trouble at all." Karin said with a knowing smile.

"The bishop would of shown us out but I think that ritual took the buzz out of him. He's headed off to bed." Yuri said as he looked around for Roger and saw him standing with Lucia, Joachim and Gepetto while Blanca played with some of the children in the valley.

"Roger? Are we ready to go?", "Yes. While you were releasing Amon I was able to make a few modifications to the Jet, so we should be fine to head onto Japan now." nodding Yuri followed Roger back to the jet before telling the others that they could take their time before coming back, he didn't want to rush them after what had happened in Russia and there was no way that Rasputin could follow them so quickly.

Sitting with Roger in the cockpit he could see that there was something on the little warlocks mind, "Penny for your thoughts?", "Mmm? Nothing just thinking about a few things that's all." swivelling in his chair he took out a thick book, "I'm still looking on a way to bring her back Yuri, safely. I haven't given up just yet.", "Thanks Roger…" he wasn't going to dwell on things anymore then he had too, he had more important things to deal with straight away, such as Rasputin.

But once he was out of the way then he could starting thinking back to how to get Alice back, without using the Manuscript.

After the others had arrived back at the Jet they took off into the skies towards Japan, only for the engines to start cutting out as they approached the coastline and saw Mt. Fuji in the distance. "Roger! If this is because of those improvements I'll kill you!" Yuri hollered as they dropped out of the air and headed straight for the ground, "Not if the ground does it first!" Asuka shouted as she clung to her chair as the others screamed and yelled.

* * *

I honestly would of liked to see exactly how they arrived in Japan in the game, I guess it will remain in the sidelines of gaming history. Assassins Creed 3 is a very good game btw, ending was a little sucky but not going to complain. Sorry about the huge delay again, the next one will be up in the first week of December. Promise.

Though a kick in the teeth for PS3 Skyrim owners though, we're still waiting on the Dawnwalker DLC and they've already got another one on the way Dragonborn, of course Xbox gets it first, which I think sucks. How hard is it to release it all on the same date?Anyway hope you enjoyed this chapter, next one is when Shinji and Yuri finally reunite. Peace out!


	9. Chap 9: Reunion In Japan

Here it is the chapter where Shinji meets Yuri again after their time apart. It's taken me a while to look through this one just to make sure everything was covered. This maybe my last update for the year on this as i've got some things that i really need to finish and i'd be able to do these updates quicker in the new year if I did. And of course i've got work to deal with.

* * *

When Shinji woke up to an early morning yell he wasn't sure if it was Misato's morning beer or not but went back to sleep anyway, only to find her laying naked next to him.  
"Shinji!" he heard his mother shout from downstairs sounding panicked, throwing on a robe he ran downstairs passing Saki in the hallway, "What's wrong!?" he asked coming to a stop in the kitchen. She gingerly handed him the paper for that day and he saw the front page, complete with black and white photograph of Yuri, running away from a fancy looking dance carrying a little girl in his arms being followed by another group of people, and a wolf.

"Rag tag group kidnaps princess." Shinji read the headline on the paper and sat down on the edge of the table suddenly feeling very tired, "Shinji what do you think will happen?" Yui asked genuinely concerned for Yuri's safety, "I really don't know. But if he's smart… He'd better look over his shoulder, because she doesn't look like she's being kidnapped." he pointed to the picture where the girl was looking angrily at the man standing at the end of the hall, who just had an air of sinister intentions.

Running his hand through his hair he growled in frustration, "I don't know what to think. This isn't something I expected to wake up too, but if he'll have to lay low if this catches up to him. That guy looks like trouble." looking at the paper one last time he allowed his fallback action to take effect. He let his head thud onto the table and let out a string of mumblings about how life wasnt fair.

* * *

He got dressed after deciding that he wouldn't be able to sleep anymore after seeing that headline, he had to a few more repairs to make to the local buildings before he carrying on with his bodyguard duties later that week, so he put on some spare working clothes which made him look the part from someone from the feudal era, which he liked.  
"Hey Shinji can you fix the roof of the storehouse?" one of the workmen Takeshi asked him as he entered the village, "Sure thing." he wasn't surprised to see the ladder had already been put up, "How big is the hole?", "About a foot across, but we've done bigger." the middle aged man smiled as he handed him a hammer and a bag of tiles and nails, "So up you go." Shinji just chuckled as he began to climb the ladder onto the roof.

"How many repairs are left?" he asked after hammering on the first tile, "Nope this should be the last one we have to fix so you'll be free to go afterwards." Takeshi laughed loudly, "You know I don't mind helping out. Everyone accepted us with open arms so I'm happy to help when I can.", "You know that's why I like you lot. For young folk to be so helpful, it's a breath of fresh air." Shinji laughed as he pointed out over the mountains and forests around them, "You can get plenty of that here." Takeshi laughed loudly again, he was a good soul, even though he had the habit of drinking like a fish. "That reminds me Shinji! Are you lot going to be here for the festival?", "Of course. Though don't expect me or Misato to be drinking as much as you." Takeshi laughed loudly again, "But Shinji... no one drinks as much as me. Even if they say they can." Takeshi the Iron Liver was his title in the village and surrounding area, its a wonder why bars wont let him in anymore.

* * *

Yuri walked over another large stone that blocked the path, he had decided that the best thing they could of done after being singled out by Rasputin at the ball which welcomed back the Tsar from his trip to the battlefront, they had tried to convince him about Rasputin's evil ways but was overpowered when he tried to 'protect' them. Of course that had ended with Yuri getting his butt handed to him, he knew at least with Amon's power he stood a good chance and smashing that pale living corpse of his into the ground like a post. But the whole Bacon Jet falling out of the sky thing was something he could do without, ever again. His stomach had been doing back flips through the whole thing and even after landing he still didnt fell a hundred percent.

"Do you know where your going Yuri?" Karin asked, "We've been walking for a long time.", "I know the way. I've been here before." he replied sure of his words, "We'll be fine as long as we make it before nightfall, so we've got plenty of time." which was right as the forest wasn't the best place to take a walk around in the dark, "Even if we don't the spirits and creatures wouldn't attack. Saki would tear into them if they did.". Before they could ask who Saki was they heard they heard someone curse loudly up ahead, "Damn it!" an old man shouted out, "Stupid root." Yuri swore it sounded familiar as they got closer.

Turning a bend in the path they saw a old man wearing black and orange robes sitting on a rock rubbing his foot, "Old man!" Yuri called out, "Kiddo! Ha! What a surprise to see you here!" his smile returned and he stood up using his staff to help him up. "So what brings you and your new friends here?" he asked looking at the group standing behind him, "We're travelling together. Just passing by." Zhuzhen chuckled, "Of course kid. Have you seen the paper lately? There's news of a red eyed Japanese Russian kidnapping the princess of Russia.", "What!? Damn that Rasputin, he really is pulling all the strings to try and stop us isnt he?" Yuri groaned in frustration.

"Lighten up kid I know you wouldn't do something that stupid. Saying that I am getting flashbacks of Shanghai.", "Don't remind me. Any I guess I should introduce you." he turned back to everyone, "This is Zhuzhen. One of my friends from my last long journey. Say hello everyone." they introduced themselves and Zhuzhen perked up when hearing Asuka's name. He was about to say something but Yuri dug his fingers into his shoulder, he got the message straight away and kept his mouth shut.

"Lets just get going anyway before night falls." Yuri said leading the way towards the village, "Look kiddo I got a message from Roger a few months ago. What the hell are you thinking? Not telling us about Alice." Zhuzhen whispered to Yuri from the front, who stopped mid step, "Look I haven't exactly been thinking straight since then alright. I only recently started to sort myself out…" Zhuzhen stared at him for a moment before he continued walking, "Lets go meet the kiddo then.". Zhuzhen looked at his tall friend out of the corner of his eye, there was something that he wasn't telling him and he was sure that Shinji was going to notice as well.

* * *

Shinji wiped the sweat off his brow as he slid down the ladder, "Thanks again kiddo. You're a lifesaver." Takeshi slapped him on the back as he began to walk back towards his home, "Don't mention it.", "Hey look at that. We got some visitors and old man Zhuzhen." Takeshi chuckled at the sight of his favourite drinking buddy whenever he was at the village.

Looking up, his blue eyes met red ones and on reflex he launched the hammer, "You jackass!" the hammer hit home straight into Yuri's stomach, knocking him to the ground. Shinji began to walk towards the his now prone friend, "I can't seem to leave you alone for a minute without you causing trouble! Do I have to bring up the train again!? Or how many times we got the wrong one!", "Hey Shinji calm down, you know he wouldn't do something so stupid." Zhuzhen said gently keeping pushing him back with his oak staff, Shinji let out a long tired sigh while ruffling his hair, "I guess so old man… Good to see you." he gave the oracle a friendly hug, "Come on up. Everyone's here. Kurando should be back soon so we can all sit down and catch up.".

Turning to the group that had come up the path behind Yuri he opened his arms in welcome, "Welcome to Inugami village. I'm Shinji." everyone stared at the person in front of him, "Nice to meet you all…", "Shinji!" a middle aged woman called from the bottom of a path leading to the top of a small hill where a house stood, "Yes!?", "Arisu is ready for her bath." they watched the man shudder briefly while smiling, "Oh god help me…", "Is she still a hand full?" Yuri asked, "Last week I spent nearly an hour trying to find her after running her bath, she really doesn't like them." Zhuzhen chuckled as he joined them walking towards the house, "Is Yui there? And Takeshi?", "Yeah she's cooking something up right now. And Takeshi just had me finish off the repairs to the houses.".

As they headed up to the house Asuka and Karin followed slowly behind, "Is something wrong Asuka?", "He looks just like him. Even those blue eyes are the same…" her voice was shaking and Karin knew the next few minutes were going to be tough for her friend, "I know. You've told me his description. Though I guess like you he has aged hasn't he? If it is him?", "Your right. It might just be a coincidence." Asuka said sounding sure of her words. But it was the fact that the man in front of them was an older version of Shinji Ikari but she just couldnt be sure of anything anymore.

"I'm back. And got some new friends!" Shinji shouted into the house as he closed the door behind everyone, "That was quick Shinji-kun." a woman called out from the kitchen at the end of the hall, "Yuri and Zhuzhen are here!" there was silence for a moment before Yui came running down the hall and jumped into Yuri's arms, "It's been so long Yuri-kun. Zhuzhen." she said earning a blush from the God-Slayer, "Don't I get a hug?" the old oracle asked, "Of course." Yuri and Shinji just raised an eyebrow at the grin the old man gave as Yui hugged him. "Oi! Zhuzhen don't get too comfortable... that is my mom." Shinji said prying the old man off his mother before he got stuck.

"Oh where are my manners. I'm Yui Ikari. Pleased to meet you.", "Ikari…" Asuka mumbled looking surprised and shocked as everyone introduced themselves, leaving Karin to introduce Asuka but Shinji didn't connect the resemblance, as Arisu crawled up and tugged on his pants leg, "Oh there she is. Come here Arisu." she giggled as Shinji picked her up. Both Lucia and Anastasia cooed at the baby saying how cute she was, "Thanks. Keep it up she loves the attention." he joked, "Would you like to hold her while I go and find her mother. Wherever she's disappeared to?" Lucia gingerly took Arisu while the Russian princess wanted to have a closer look at her.

Heading upstairs he tried to find Misato, who he quickly heard snoring softly from their bedroom, "Why am I not surprised?" he laughed softly as he sat on the edge of their bed, "Misato…Wake up. Dinners ready." her eyes shot open at the mention of food, "Yuri and Zhuzhen are here for a visit. He's brought some friends too." letting out something through a yawn and a catlike stretch she nodded. "Do you want me to carry you?" he joked getting a poke in the ribs, "Watch it mister." she leant in and kissed Shinji passionately on the lips, "You know your wrapped around my little finger.", "You wish…" he returned the kiss before backing off, "But your close." he helped her up and they both walked downstairs.

Shinji wasn't expecting the first words to hear were "Misato?" her head shot up and saw a familier looking red head staring back at her, "Misato Katsuragi?", "Misato Ikari now…" Saki said appearing behind the group, "And her husband Shinji Ikari. I believe there are something's we need to discuss.", "Appearing like magic again Saki? Your worse then I am." Zhuzhen joked feeling the tension in the air, however it was soon broken by Asuka breaking down into tears.

"Asuka?" Misato asked as Shinji looked at Misato then at Asuka while everything clicked into place, "Oh Asuka!" Misato ran forwards and wrapped the girl in her arms while Shinji could only just watch still tried to process what was happening, "I need some air…" Shinji finally said walking out the back door into the garden.

"He really wasn't expecting this…" Zhuzhen said, "He tried to put what happened in his past behind him. And now everything has come straight back to him again.". "Was it really bad?" Joachim asked, "Yes. Forced by his father who had all but abandoned him to pilot a weapon that became a source of pain." Yui said sadly, "Forced to fight an enemy he knew almost nothing about. And I had a hand in it.", "NO! We've been over this Yui, you could not of know how things were going to turn out." Zhuzhen argued, he hated to see her do this to herself.

"That's a story for another time." Misato said still hugging Asuka who had begun to pull herself together, "He doesn't want to see me does he?" she mumbled into Misato's shoulder, "We never thought we would see you again. Don't blame yourself or him." Saki coughed loudly getting everyone's attention, "I think everyone should make themselves at home while this settles down." thankfully everyone did, Misato took Arisu back and walked with them.

"Who's going to go talk to him?" Yuri asked as Zhuzhen sat next to him, worn down from the journey up to the village, "I'll go." Saki said, "Hopefully he'll understand…", "Don't bother. I'm here." Shinji said walking into the kitchen, "I promised myself I would never run away again. And I'm not going to start now." he headed over and hugged Asuka, "It's good to see your alright Asuka.", "Baka…" she mumbled, glad that he had not ran away.

* * *

Night had fallen and Shinji was standing outside the front door on the porch looking up at the stars, hearing the door open behind him he didn't look around, "Shinji? Can we talk?" Asuka asked softly, "Sure." he didn't take his eyes of the sky above him, "So… You and Misato have gotten married?" she sounded distant when she said it, "Yeah... sort of anyway. Arisu is our daughter Asuka... Sorry but I really don't know what to say at the moment?" she moved closer to him and took his hand in hers, "Asuka…", "Please… Shinji just one time.", "Asuka. I'm married, I have a daughter. I'm not throwing that away, I tried to get close to you but you never let me get close. I just wanted to be friends with you but you wouldn't have any of it." Asuka felt him pull away from her hand, "Why?" she demanded with tears in her eyes, "I tried Asuka. Lord knows I tried! You gave up on us." he got to his feet and turned away from her.  
"Every time i tried to be friends you just knocked me down, called me names or hit me. You insulted me and my friends and even my hobbies." he ran his hand across his face in frustration he was really trying not to yell at her, he couldnt understand what she had had been through since she came through to this reality and wasn't going to try and ask at the moment.

Shinji went to go back inside but was stopped when Asuka grabbed his wrist, "Asuka…" it wasn't Shinji who warned her, it was Misato who was standing by the door with her arms folded but with a calm yet stern look on her face, "Shinji go put Arisu to bed please." feeling the tension in the air he disappeared into the house. "Misato.." Asuka started but stopped when Misato held her hand up, "Don't even try to explain that Asuka. Shinji is the best thing ever happen to me in a very long time, and Arisu is another love of my life. I won't let you try and start something with Shinji, he's told me about how he felt about you in the past but that's changed. Please… don't take this away from me." Misato said not sounding angry as she headed back into the house.

"I'm sorry." she whispered just loud enough for her to hear, "I guess I haven't changed much have I?" she hugged, "You have Asuka but it's easy to fall back onto the old ways. Just don't try that again and I'm sure Shinji will warm up to the idea of being your friend. You found us now Asuka, we won't be going anywhere." she ruffled her hair and lead her back into the house. She could tell that telling her off wasnt going to do anything positive in the long term, but she knew from experience that Asuka needed to be in stable relationships with people or else she would be her old self and no one really liked it.

* * *

Waking up the next the morning Shinji made his way downstairs, stepping over the white wolf that was sleeping on its back at the bottom of the stairs, "I'm surprised we have the room…" he mumbled as he headed for the kitchen, "Well kid. Must of been an interesting day wasn't it?" Zhuzhen asked him from the table where he was sipping some green tea, "Yeah it was.". "Just remember lad that both of you have changed, I can see that myself.", "It wasn't easy between us. Sure we got along sometimes but most of the time she was always talking down to me and I just took it. Thinking back on it, I was so angry at her for doing it.", "What about now?" Shinji just shook his head, "I've got no reason to be angry at her. I'm happy now, for the first time in years I'm happy." Zhuzhen smiled and nodded, "That's a good answer.".

"I just wish Alice was still here." he suddenly said, "You knew?" Zhuzhen asked surprised, "I had a feeling when he showed up but wasn't going to say anything just in case I was wrong. I just pray he doesn't try and use that damn manuscript to bring her back." the back door opened and Kurando stepped in looking very tired, well actually he looked half dead.

"Wow your late coming back." Shinji said smiling as he all but collapsed at the table, "I am very tired… need to sleep." it didn't take long for him to start snoring with his head resting on his arms, "Poor kid. He really takes his job seriously doesn't he?", "Yes, but he is good at it. Nobody has tried to make moves on the family since they hired him. But he really needs to unwind.", "I thought you'd be making breakfast Shinji?" Asuka asked with a smile as she walking into the kitchen, "Was going to make a start after we've moved sleeping beauty there." he said nodding to Kurando, "Plus I got to go and grab some fish from the river. Otherwise all we have is rice and Miso.", "Do you need a hand?" she asked and for a moment he was tempted to tell her to stay but saw Zhuzhen eyeing him over the top of his cup.

"Sure. I'll give you the tour." he said with a grin as he walked over to a closet and pulled out a basket with shoulder straps, "Lets go." putting on a pair of sandals he picked up the wolf as another travelling companion as they head for the river. "About last night Shinji. I'm sorry I shouldn't of done that." Asuka said suddenly when they were out of the village, "Don't worry about it. Misato told me a few things yesterday and I know I acted more then a little cold to you, that I'm sorry for.", "I guess it's seeing each other after so long isn't it?" Shinji nodded, "You should know Fuyutski showed up as well." he kept walking as Asuka stopped.

"What?", "He told us everything that was going to happen. He is still apologizing today for siding with that bastard.", "You mean your…", "He's nothing to me." Shinji said interrupting her, "If I ever see him. Well I don't know what I'd do but I would tell him to go and die in a hole somewhere. That's for sure.", "You've changed a lot haven't you?".

"Had to. When I first arrived I was the old me, only older. But I had to toughen up quick and well spending a year with Yuri did that and more.", "I don't think I could spend a year with him." Asuka said laughing softly as they headed down a side path towards the river, "He's not that bad, he's reckless but he's a good person to have by your side.", "Do you think anyone else came through?" Asuka asked as they reached the river, Blanca stopping to have a drink in the cool waters.

"No idea. We've been looking but Japans a big place, that and you said yourself you ended up in Norway was it? So it'll be hard for us to find each other if we're all moving about." suddenly thinking of something he laughed as he opened one of the fish traps, "Pity we can't put up posters saying, 'Did you work in Tokyo-3?'" he laughed as he loaded the fresh fish into the basket, "Baka." she joked smiling, "I always wondered if I actually meet you, or anyone again. But I'm glad it was you and not the commander or Akagi." Shinji was about to make a witty remark when Blanca growled at the bank across from them where he saw a elderly woman covered in rags shambling along the river bank.

"Stop it. It's an old lady." Asuka said try to stop the wolf from growling, "No it isn't." Shinji said standing up, "It's a demon.", "And how would you know that?" she demanded, "You! Show your true form now!" Shinji shouted completely ignoring Asuka, "Shinji what are you doing? It's a little old lady.", "Yeah a little old lady that died trying to save us a few years ago." he held out his arm towards the old lady, "Show yourself or I will destroy you!" she shook violently before its skin peeled off revealing itself to be a larger then usual Kappa.  
"You soil her image, her memory! You will die!" he shouted just before firing off a cross blast, surprising Blanca and Asuka but which incinerated the Kappa, "Fucking Kappa's." he spat as he went back to picking up the fish, "What the hell was that!?" she shouted in surprise. "I don't know if you should know this but I'm part Angel." Shinji said after a moment, "After I was pulled through. I found out I could us an A.T field. Later on I could use a cross blast.", "You too then?" she said after calming herself down, "You got abilities too?", "Yes. Though with me its speed. I can attack something from like, three different directions at once." she said with a hint of pride, "Using a sword? That's impressive." he didn't say anything about that being her only ability, "It is but I can't use it for long with out tiring myself out.", "How often do you use it?", "Not very often. Don't have a need too.".

Shinji finished loading up the basket and reset the fish traps and lifted it onto his back, "You should use it more. That's how I'm able to use my abilities for longer, my body is used to them. At first I was exhausted after one cross blast but now I can fire off ten powerful blasts one after the other." he paused mid-step with a grin spanning ear to ear, "Do you fancy a spar? Then Arisu can see how much her daddy kicks ass." Asuka couldn't help but laugh at him, "Your on Shinji.".

She had nearly called him 'Third' but caught herself, he was willing to start a clean slate with her and she would show him the kindness that she didn't show him back in Tokyo-3, "Looking forward to it. Who knows you might find yourself able to do something else like I did?" together with Blanca they made there way back to the village, "So who was it that Kappa took the form of?", "Her name was Sea Mother. We met her in China, she was a sage and a good one at that. She gave her life to save us and the spirit of a villager that had been taken over by a warlock." Asuka fell silent for the rest of the trek back clearly thinking about things and how much Shinji had changed since she last saw him. Along with how much he had been through.

* * *

After breakfast Shinji told Asuka to meet him outside the cave shrine, and told her to bring Misato and Arisu, but as it turned out everyone showed up with them. "So much for a quiet spar." Shinji mumbled as stood to the side with Misato, "Don't worry about it. You know she's always liked a crowd.", "I know. Should of guessed really." he quickly smiled at Arisu, "Are you looking forward to seeing daddy kick butt?" she just gurgled and giggled, "I think that's a yes?" Misato gave him a kiss and told him not to fire off a cross blast at her.

He was planning on only using his A.T field as he felt he could give her a better spar with just that, "Are you ready?" he asked stepping out into the centre of the sparing ground, "Just don't go easy on my Shinji." he just laughed as he readied his A.T field, "Ladies first.".

Without hesitating she dashed forward and drew her sword in one fluid motion, only to have it bounce of the orange tinted barrier, while Shinji stood firm with his arms crossed, not pausing she lashed out to try and stab through the barrier only for it to morph in front of her eyes and deflect the blade away. "What is that?" she asked backing up a few steps, "A very powerful barrier which I've spent years using. Your in for a challenge Asuka." he didn't say she couldn't beat him but he would enjoy seeing her try.

"Is that all it can do? Defence?" Asuka taunted hoping to try and get Shinji to lower his A.T field but he just smiled as he shook his head, "Oh far from it." he reached out with his hand and closed his fist, "I really hope you dodge this or it will hurt. A lot." he warned as pushed out his field like a battering ram, which she wasn't expecting but was able to dodge just in time. "Was that the same field?" she asked, "Yes. It was the same. I didn't call up another." Asuka just started laughing, "Thank you for that tactical knowledge Shinji. I think I can beat you know." Shinji realised his mistake and grumbled in annoyance, he should of remembered Asuka had said she went to the military academy in Germany.

However he didn't say that he was completely useless without his A.T field, his fists were his best weapon by far, he did after all manage to beat an Angel with his bare hands. "Asuka it doesn't really matter actually." she dove at him again and attempted to slash upwards from the ground, "Are you going to take my advice and use your abilities?", "Shut it Shinji!" she sent a flurry of stabs at him but he simply dodged each stab with ease. "Or is it that you can't?" he wanted to push her to use them, and he got his wish.

She disappeared from his view and reappeared just off to his left and she was very close. Close enough to slam the hand guard of her sword into his face. "Shit!" Shinji shouted falling back a few feet, even know he had the ability to heal it still hurt to get a broken nose.  
"Are you alright Shinji!?" Misato called out from the sidelines, "Yeah I'm fine." he felt the bones in his nose click back into place and he merely wiped the blood away, "You can heal yourself too!?" Asuka ranted loudly, "Just fractures, cuts and bruises. Nothing serious." he said before dashing forward and jabbing at Asuka like a professional fighter, 'Damn. He's learnt unarmed combat.' she thought getting out of range of his fists, before heading straight back at him using her high speed and unleashing several punches and kicks at him. Shinji was only able to block two of the six strikes, he hated to say it but she was better then him when it came to speed and accuracy, he would also say she was smarter, something that pissed him off slightly.

She crouched slightly, preparing to speed forwards again but was tripped up by Shinji who had lashed out catching a lucky strike on her ankle, the result was all down to science and so since Asuka was going fairly fast she went quite far along the ground. "Okay maybe that was a little uncalled for." Shinji mumbled as he watched Asuka disappear into the forest, "I hope she'll be alright?" he said a little louder, "Ikari!" they heard her bellow from the forest making him wrap his A.T field around him just to be safe, "Your in for it now Shinji. She seems pissed!" Yuri, unhelpfully, pointed out. "Well she has improved on using her abilities, hasn't she?", "True. She has used it more now then she usually did." Karin said just in time for Asuka to burst from the undergrowth, looking angry and rather tired.

"Shinji!" she said drawing out his name as their eyes met, "Someone save me?" he asked half joking as she slowly moved towards him, it was only then that he noticed her sword was glowing. "That's not good." she slashed out at him and a beam of red energy flew out him and hit his A.T field hard enough to slide him aloud the ground several feet. "What the hell was that!?" looking up he saw that something was going wrong, it took a few moments but Shinji realised that she couldn't control the power she was using, "Damage control Yuri! Misato get everyone out of here!" Zhuzhen moved next to Yuri and Shinji, "Just like old times!" he grinned readying his magic.

"Just remember try not to hurt her too much! Just let her drain herself of power." Shinji reminded them as he countered a wild strike from the berserk Asuka using his A.T field, the timing reflected some of the force back at her and sent her back again several feet, "Do you think she can hear us?" Yuri asked, "Really don't know. But I guess we could try that." before they could try though Asuka jumped into the middle of them and they blocked and ducked a mix of kicks and slashes. Yuri tried to wrestle the sword out of her hand but it was stuck, either that or she wasn't letting go of the sword itself, he was soon greeted by her fist slamming into his face, sending him to the ground.

"Shinji hold her down!" Zhuzhen shouted diving his staff around in an overhead strike trying to get her to go on the defensive so Shinji would have an easier time grabbing her, he tried only to have his nose broken again when Asuka head butted him. "Damn it!" he covered his nose and got kicked in the stomach, "Asuka stop this!" Shinji said trying to get through to her but she just roared in defiance.

"She's not going to listen is she?" Yuri asked getting to his feet, "I don't know what to do apart from to try and wear her out.", "You could try talking to her Shinji." Zhuzhen said, "She isn't going to listen!" Shinji said trying to avoid getting stabbed, "Look! Her emotions are a storm at the moment. That might be adding to this condition, just try talking to her. Tell her how you feel!", "We've been over that!" he warned the old man, "Just do it. Tell her from your soul." before he could reply everything went white in his eyes.

* * *

"What the hell?" he asked himself as he looked around and saw he was standing in darkness, "Okay… Where am I?" he tried to feel, see or hear anything but couldn't, until he heard the sound of someone crying.  
Looking around he saw Asuka sitting on the floor with her knee's tucked up to her chin and she was crying, "Asuka?" Shinji asked walking over to her, "Shinji? What are you doing here?", "I was wondering that myself." he smiled sitting down opposite her in a lotus position. "Where am I?", "My mind… I've been coming here often. This is the only place I can be myself.", "What are you talking about? I thought I saw the Asuka I know back at the river earlier." she looked up at him with puffy red eyes and smiled softly, "She doesn't make much of an appearance does she?", "Asuka what is going on? I'm having trouble seeing who you are now.", "I don't know!" she cried.

"Asuka!" Shinji said reaching over and placing his hands on her knee's, "I don't know much about your past, it's not my place to ask. But whatever problems your having, I do care about you. Please don't forget that." she looked at him to try and judge whether or not he was lying, "Shinji… I always treated you like crap. Why should you care for me?", "Geez I don't know. Maybe because we saved the world together a number of times. And because I want too. As I've said to a lot of people over the years I'm not my father, I actually care about people around me.".

"Asuka look at me." she stared at his cool blue eyes, "You are not alone." he said firmly and the world around them dissolved and they found themselves back in the training ground, "Well that was interesting." he mused looking around him as Zhuzhen and Yuri looked on confused, "What was that!?" Yuri asked as he poked Shinji to make sure he was real.

"I think that's happened before when we found you at that tower where we met Keith. Alice and I ended up in your head.", "Weird…" Shinji turned back to Asuka who was looking a little dazed, "You alright?" he asked getting a slow nod as she tried to focus, "See? I told you if you used your powers more you'd get better." Shinji joked, just in time for her to fall asleep into his chest. "I think that went rather well." Zhuzhen said as Shinji picked her up and began to carry her on his back, towards the village, "Apart from she broke your nose twice.", "Screw you Yuri." Shinji wasn't surprised that Yuri still brought up all the injuries he had gotten over the years, it was just another way for him to rub it in.

* * *

Well there we have it. I would like to know what people think of this chapter as it is kind of a important one really and i want it to be as prefect as possible but i just hope you all like it. I did spend three hours going over this chapter and i've still got the feeling i'm missing something. But until next time...


	10. Chap 10: Talks, Friendships, The Assualt

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a good time and didn't get too drunk. Normal service shall resume shortly as I've popped out a few more ideas for fan fictions, though this one will be a little slower then usual but it will keep going.

* * *

Arriving back at the village he carried Asuka through to Yui who was waiting in a spare bedroom.

"Set her down on the bed Shinji. I'll check her over just to make sure she's alright.", "Thanks mom." before he could look back at Asuka he was ushered out by his mother and into Misato's waiting arms. "So will you be doing that again any time soon?" she asked, "No. Not for a while anyway. It just confuses me how much power she had built up inside her.", "Do you think that's why she went… like that?", Misato didn't want to use the word 'crazy', "Possible but I'm not an expert in this.".

Arisu wobbled up to him and reached up for him, "Miss me did you?" Shinji cooed as he picked up his daughter when a thought struck him and it was something that he couldn't put off, "Misato can you take her. I just remembered that I need to talk with Yuri about something important." Misato took her daughter and watched as her husband drag Yuri back through the door he had just entered.

"You and I are going to have a little chat about something. Old man follow me." he said to Zhuzhen who was drinking some tea in the kitchen as they left the house, "What's going on Shinji?" he asked following him after fetching his staff, "We need to talk away from prying ears." Yuri didn't know what was going on but Zhuzhen had a feeling what Shinji was going to talk about. The next few minutes were going to be hard on both of them, for both men who were bonded like brothers, "Where are we going?" Yuri asked, "The cave shrine, hurry up…" heading down the dirt steps they turned the corner at the bottom and walked past the totems that lined the way to the village shrine.

They soon entered the cave shrine of the village when Shinji stopped and put a barrier over the cave entrance. "Right we need to talk about something.", "What?" Zhuzhen stood next to Shinji and leant on his staff. "Kiddo this is important. Where is the Manuscript?" Yuri looked at the two with confusion, "What are you talking about?", "Yuri we both know how powerful that book is, and what it can do. But I'm serious, where is it?", "I don't have it. It's back in Wales, hidden.".  
Yuri thought for a moment before putting two and two together, "Wait you didn't think that…? I can't believe you'd think I would do something like that! Why would I!?" Yuri said angrily, looking like he was ready to smack Shinji to the ground, "Because I know you Yuri! And I would do the same thing!" Shinji snapped earning a concerned look from Zhuzhen.

He hadn't known that Shinji would choose to use the book if given the chance, but he trusted Shinji's knowledge of what Yuri might do if given the chance, not that he could blame the man, "Listen Yuri I know I can't begin to feel the pain you felt but using that book wouldn't…" he didn't get to finish as Yuri punched him hard enough to send him to the floor, "Don't you dare! Alice was my wife! She was everything to me and she was taken by that illness! And after everything she had been through!", "And you really think that using that cursed book would bring her back?" Shinji said keeping his calm as he got to his feet.  
"Everyone we've met who had used that thing either died or didn't get their wish. Think about it!" Shinji counted Alice as a dear friend and didn't want to see her memory, or soul, tarnished in such a way as with previous users of the Manuscript that he had heard about.

"Yuri… listen to us please. We just don't want to see you hurt anymore then you have been." Zhuzhen said, "That book shouldn't even be around anymore. It's too powerful." once the words left his mouth silence filled the cave, "Everyday I miss her…" Yuri said after a moment of silence in a defeated tone, "We all do Yuri. I have asked around if there was another means to bring her back but nothing has come of it." Zhuzhen said, disappointed that his own abilities couldn't bring back the cheerful, caring girl that they had spent so long with.

"Arisu… Do you know what her name means Yuri?" Shinji suddenly said looking at his old friend who just shook his head, "Alice. Her name means Alice. I had told her that I was going to name our first child after her. I guess she didn't get around to telling you before she…" Shinji ran his hand through his hair, he was suddenly feeling run down.

"I'm a mess aren't I?" Yuri said sitting on the floor of the cave, looking down into the small pond in front of him, "Whenever Roger turns up we'll ask him. He might know someway to bring her back, but I'm serious about not using that damn book when Roger arrives we'll send that thing back to hell." Shinji said standing behind Yuri, "I doubt that would work Shinji, the book itself is a powerful magic item and that's not counting the contents." Zhuzhen mused leaning on his staff. "Either way, I want to make sure that no one ever uses that thing again. I'll send it to the bottom of the ocean if I have too." Shinji said, he had once thought of the book as being a smaller version of the Evangelion's, they bring nothing but pain to whoever is near them.

Saki watched from the entrance to the cave she wouldn't of thought that they had such a powerful artefact in their possession, she had heard of it but didn't know if it might find its way over to Japan. She knew that Shinji would do what he could to protect his family and the village and that Zhuzhen would use all his skill to stop it from being abused by the wrong people, "Please watch over them. They are good people with good hearts." muttering a short prayer she left and returned to the house, feeling that everything would calm down soon.

"So when is the creepy guy going to get here?", "In a few days, I just hope that we can sort out this Rasputin situation, he's going to be looking for us the second we enter Russia again. And that princess can't stay with us forever." Zhuzhen looked at him with curiosity, "Is he really that powerful?", "Yeah." Yuri looked up from the pond at the old man, "He can summon monsters as well, plus he has the Russian guard under his thumb.".

Zhuzhen sucked in a breath, he knew along with everyone that there were a lot of soldiers in Russia, "And you said that there was that little twerp Nicolai, he has some power behind him. Along with that little curse he put on you.", "I know. I can still fuse but I had to search my soul to bring Amon back.", "You what?" Shinji and Zhuzhen asked together, both sounding surprised, "I have Amon back… so what?", "You realise that thing could possibly wipe the floor with Rasputin right?" Zhuzhen said, seeing that Yuri was still as dense as a block of wood.

"Well your still a force to be reckoned with so lets deal with what we have going on at the moment. Your arrival in Japan must of raised a few flags, I'll speak with Kawashima and see if she's heard anything." Shinji said lowering the A.T field surrounding the shrine, "Try not to get into trouble whilst I'm gone. Old man tell Misato I'm running an errand." Shinji said jogging out of the cave and towards the entrance to the village, if he hurried he could catch a train straight into the capital and not one that ended at the outskirts near the warehouses.

* * *

Shinji walked through the warehouse district of the capital he had missed the direct by a foot and had landed in a bush on the other side of the tracks, he now had to get to the former Lt. Colonel and ask her if the military had caught on to Yuri and his group entering the country.

Thankfully it didn't take him to long to find the woman in question, seeing how she was struggling with a lot of bags, "Miss Kawashima I presume?" Shinji asked in a deep voice causing her to look around quickly, "Shinji that wasn't funny!" she said smiling and punching him lightly in the arm after dropping her bags, "What are you doing here? I thought it was day off today.", "It was but something has come up and well…" he looked around for the tale-tale signs of being watched, "Is there somewhere we can talk in private?" he asked as he looked around.

"Shinji? What's going on?", "Please I just need to speak with you." Kawashima ushered them towards her fathers store where they would be able to speak freely, "How connected are you with the military?" Shinji asked when they were settled inside the store, "I still have a few good connections, why do you ask?", "Did you read the paper the other day?" she shook her head and Shinji handed her the front page and heard her gasp as she read it, "Yuri's kidnapped a princess!?".

"That's the thing he didn't. She's chosen to go with them, something about an aid of her mothers plotting to overthrow the Tsar. He's used his position to make sure they were kept out of the way.", "How though?", "Forcing them out of the country while he puts his plan into action.". Yoshiko looked down at her hands and went deep into thought, meanwhile an older man and a little girl entered from the back room, "Oh Shinji I wasn't expecting you to be here?" Shinji turned and bowed in respect at the older man, Yoshiko's father, "Kawashima-san. I had something to ask of your daughter, sorry if I interrupted something.", "Nonsense my boy. You've been a great help of late, you and Kurando have put me at ease.".

"What seems to be the problem?" Shinji knew he could trust the old man and told him what had happened, "I see that is a problem. What's worst is an diplomat from Russia has arrived to conduct peace talks with us, I believe his name was Nicolai something or other." Shinji didn't let on that he knew the name from what Yuri had told him, "I guess they might think their over here. I think it would be best if you forgot you knew Yuri or anything of this whole thing, the last thing I want is to put you into their sights." Yoshiko understood what Shinji was trying to do, he had helped her escape from the trouble in Shanghai a few years ago and had made sure that she was safe so she knew how protective he was, meaning she wasn't in a position to argue with the man.

* * *

Leaving the store after wishing the three well he headed back to tram station, he had a lot of things to do and had to wait to hear from Yoshiko about what Rasputin was planning in way of sending people over to Japan.

Arriving at the tram station he watched as a mother played with her small child who was running around her legs, the child noticed Shinji and tried to hide away, "Sorry did I scare you? My apologizes little one." he watched as she hid behind her mothers legs trying to be invisible, "Am I really that scary? Arisu loves me?", "I'm sorry young man. Is Arisu your daughter?" the woman asked making Shinji nod with pride, "I love her so much, barely a year old as has more energy then I do." Shinji chuckled as did the woman.

"I bet her mother is happy to have such a loving husband?", "She is. Always hugging me, but she's a little on the lazy side which makes me think that Arisu takes after me more then her." he said in a mock whisper. "I love Misato and Arisu, I'd go to the ends of the earth for them.", "You sound so happy. My daughter and I are moving to Inugami village, we just want to get out of the city. It's getting a little dangerous there for me to raise a child alone." Shinji perked up at the mention of her destination.

"Well this is a surprise. I live there myself. I'd be happy to escort you there if you'd like?" his worries about the whole Rasputin trouble had disappeared, "Oh thank you that would be wonderful. I just hope they accept us." Shinji made a dismissive sound, "Of course they will. Inugami village is a very friendly village, a little cramped at the moment because I have some friends from abroad staying up at the chiefs house but you be welcomed with open arms.".  
"What is the village chief like? What kind of man is he?" Shinji chuckled, "Don't let her hear you say that. But yes Saki is a very kind very friendly woman, she'll love your daughter. Sometimes I think she believes Arisu is hers, but she has a son who's just come of age who works with me in the city.". Shinji and the woman chatted until well after the tram arrived and they headed to the village together, her name was Sakura with her daughter Yuuko who was three.

Arriving back at the village with Sakura and her daughter he saw a European man dressed in white standing at the entrance, with a sword at his side, "Excuse me sir? Is there something you need?" he called out, "Head straight for the house at the top of the hill, tell them I sent you and tell them to stay put." he whispered to Sakura who nodded, "I'm looking around the area." the man said in accented Japanese but he was giving off an odd aura.

"Well I'm sorry sir but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. We're in the middle of preparing a private celebration and its for villagers only." Shinji lied hoping that the man would get the hint and leave.

"I see. I don't see anything." he seamed to mock Shinji as he said it, "We're holding it in the village shrine, you wouldn't see it even if you tried." Shinji said not taking his eyes off him as Sakura calmly walked past her, "Well I'll be on my way then. But before I go let me introduce myself. My name is Nicolai, I'm part of the Russian effort to hunt down the criminals who kidnapped our princess.", "Oh yeah. I saw something about that in the paper… Looking at the picture though she seems more angry at the creepy looking guy at the back of the hall rather then the person carrying her away.".  
Nicolai gripped his sword as a warning to Shinji, "I don't think that this is a matter to laugh about.", "It is for me. Because your trespassing on our land, so if you so much as draw that sword then all the Russian people you have over here will be tossed on a boat for your homeland, since your on private land. So I'll ask you again, please leave." Shinji walked past him and at into the village.

He wanted to crush him into the ground but he knew that he didn't have a clue how much power this man had behind him, plus with the group he was connected to he guessed they maybe lurking nearby seeing how the forest around the village was haunted, Saki had been talking with the spirits in the forest and had made a deal with them that anyone from the village would never be harmed or anyone they were travelling with. That in itself was enough to make Shinji think that Nicolai wasn't exactly human, he would ask Saki to make sure he would not ever set foot near the village again. No matter what.

When he arrived back at his house they jumped to their feet with worry on their faces, "Shinji are you alright?", "I'm fine. But Saki I would like to ask a favour. Can you make sure that man never sets foot within a mile of the village please.", "Who was it Shinji?", "Nicolai." Yuri and the others looked at each other in shock, "I can't believe he's going this far out of the way to find us. Rasputin must really want to get rid of us before we go back.".

"He knows you're here. I could see it just by looking at him." Yuri didn't hesitate in saying that they would leave as soon as Asuka woke up, "I'm sorry Yuri, but he strikes me as the sort of person who would kill innocent people to get his way." Saki said with sorrow, "Until this is taken care of, you are to stay away from our village as it is my duty is to protect our people." Shinji didn't like it but he knew how hard the decision was to make.

"I understand Saki. Don't worry I don't hold this against you. After this is all over I hope we can still be friends?" Yuri said to the woman, who wrapped him up in a hug with tears flowing from her eyes, "I'm really sorry Yuri, I don't want to do this but…", "Don't worry about it. Besides I can take care of myself." he said with a cheesy grin.

* * *

Karin stood outside the house, holding herself, she just couldnt understand how Nicolai could of found them so quickly. "Penny for your thoughts?" she heard someone ask and saw Shinji holding his sleeping daugther in his arms, "Didn't hear you there.", "That was the idea Karin was it?", "Yes. I'm sorry...", "You have nothing to be sorry about. No one got hurt so its all good.", "Your just like how she described you..." she said looking at Shinji's face, "What?", "Asuka. She told me about your eyes but I didn't really believe her. I bet you get a lot of people commenting on your eyes, don't you?".  
Shinji felt the blush creep over his cheeks, "A-a few times but its mostly Misato, my mother, Saki... and pretty much every woman in the village..." he sighed, he didnt like being the centre of so much attention, "That must be tough.", "Not really, Misato scares most of them away, my mother does the rest. She wants to keep the idea of grandchildren alive, so she said." he chuckled softly as he shifted Arisu around in his arms, "So tell me how Asuka has been the last few years? It's not that I don't trust what she said but I would just like to hear it from someone else.".

The question surprised Karin slightly but she smiled inside at just how thoughtful and caring Shinji was, "Well pretty much what she said was true, though she is smarter then she lets on. She was at the top of the class in the military training school, but she kept to herself mostly, she told me it was because she found it hard to trust others.", "Yeah... she had the same problem back home. Asking someone else for help was like pulling teeth, she always had to be aiming for the number one spot. She got pissed when someone else got it. But at least now she's changing for the better.".  
"Thats true and I glad she has." Karin said as she turned to look back out over the village, "Peaceful isn't it?", "It is. I couldn't see Yuri living here. He's too active.", "That's nothing. You should of seen him back in the beginning. First year I was here, the voice in his head at time told us to rescue a girl from a train... well lets just say it took us a few tries." he chuckled, "I heard that we wanted by the Japanese army at the time as train robbers but we never stole anything so they let it slide." Shinji was surprised when Karin started laughing joyfully, as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

"T-thanks for that... I needed cheering up..." she said getting her breath back and under control as she realised that Arisu was still asleep. "I didn't wake her up?", "No. Don't worry she sleeps like her mother thankfully. So I get a lot of sleep." he answered with a grin. Karin stared at Arisu a moment before looking up at Shinji, "Do you really think Yuri can beat Rasputin?", "If he's got Amon back then I'm sure he can. He's too stubborn to listen anyway.".  
"But I should be saying good luck anyway. Just look out for each other." Shinji said leaving Karin to admire the view of the village as he walked back inside to put Arisu to sleep.

* * *

When Asuka awoke the first thing she saw Yui looking at her with sadness in her eyes, even though her head felt like a train had hit it she slowly sat upright.

"What's wrong Yui-san?", "You and the others will be leaving the village in a few hours. The man Nicolai was outside the village yesterday…", "Was anyone hurt!?", "No. He didn't cause any trouble, but Saki said you have to leave or the village will be in danger." Asuka couldn't believe what she had just heard, "But I… I've just found Shinji and Misato after all this time. I want to stay.", "Your face is on that paper. If your spotted here Asuka it could be putting this village in danger, we can't let that happen.". Asuka felt the tears start to form in her eyes but blinked them away, she wasn't going to let herself cry over this, she would promise herself to stay alive so she could come back.

Hearing a knock at the door they looked up to see Yuri and Karin standing there, "Everyone is ready. Once we've dealt with Rasputin then we're free to come back so don't worry we've just got to save Russia and we'll be golden." Yuri said trying his best to cheer up the young red head.

"Will Shinji be coming with us?" Asuka asked hoping that she would get the chance to catch up with Shinji more, "No he'll be staying here. He'll be looking after the village just in case Nicolai shows up." Yuri said which he hoped would be true, he couldn't get much of a reading on Shinji lately he was like a closed book. Though he could put that down to the fact they hadn't seen each other in nearly two years.

A thundering roar drifted over the village as a strange looking aircraft flew in and landed by the village, blowing the leaves off the tree's, "I'm guessing that Roger has fixed that plane of his or whatever he said it was." Yuri wondered aloud, "That thing really is an eyesore." Shinji said walking with him, "Coming to wish us off then?" Shinji just shook his head, "Don't have to, because I know your not going to do anything stupid enough that will make this our final visit." both men grabbed each others forearms, "Just come back in one piece Yuri or else I'll kick your ass. And the rest of you! Look after each other.".

Looking around he saw the young princess was talking or at least trying to talk to Kurando, she was to busy blushing and trying to hind her face. "Your kidding me. He's known her for all of two days and he has her blushing like a schoolgirl with a crush." he watched as Kurando looked like he didn't have clue what was going on with her, "I swear that kid is clueless sometimes.".

The princess ran over to the jet and got onboard as the young samurai walked over to Shinji, "You know she's smitten with you, right?", "What do you mean?" Shinji just sighed and patted him on the back, "She likes you. See her face getting all red? She likes you a lot. Trust me.", "Are you sure your mind isn't just trying to fix me up with a woman?", "If only it was that easy." he quipped as he walked back towards the house leaving a confused Kurando as the Jet took off.

"Yuri are you sure that this was wise?" Joachim asked as they left Japan behind them, "Of course. Shinji is like a brother to me, I'm not putting them in danger. So if we have to leave, then we leave no questions asked.", "But still, leaving like that after all the trouble we went to, to get over here." Karin said speaking up, "No. When we kill Rasputin then we can go back and settle things between us." Yuri looked back at the princess and Asuka who were talking to each other.

"Hey Roger where can we land safely in Russia without getting spotted?" Yuri called up to the cockpit where the old wizard was piloting the jet with some ease, "There's plenty of places in the woods outside Petrograd, hopefully you can get into the city without getting spotted." Yuri sat back and tried to catch some sleep before they landed.

* * *

Landing in the woods outside of the city they were glad to find out it was already dark and should be able to get into the city without Rasputin knowing.

"Right princess which way should we take to get into the city?" Yuri asked before a sudden rustling caught everyone's attention, "I thought I saw you leaving in that thing. Glad I was right." out stepped Edger the clockmaker, "Edger!", "Glad to see your still safe princess. And your friends as well. Please follow me, Price Yusupov has secured a way for you to enter the palace safely but you must hurry.".

Yuri and the others didn't need to be told twice as they followed Edger through the woods surrounding Petrograd, snow crunching under foot as they went. "So Edger what's happened since we left?" Gepetto asked, "Not much. Rasputin has only solidified his position but…" Edger stopped walked and turned to him, "He has summoned all the noble's of Russia for a party. His own people are crawling around the palace though, it's making those loyal to the Tsar feel more uneasy.", "That sounds like a trap…" Yuri said surprised what he thought the mad monk was planning to do.

"What do you mean?" the princess asked, "Think about it. All the nobles and your family in one place, and his people are crawling around. We all know how dangerous he is, but we have no idea what he's planning in the long run but we can be sure it isn't good." Yuri explained, "Hey kid you seem to be very determined with all this. Why is that?", "I'm half Russian remember old man?".

"You are!?" Anastasia asked in surprise, "Yeah my mother was Russian and my old man was Japanese." he explained as he began to walk towards the city once again, "Now if you'd like to pick your feet up we can stop Rasputin before he does whatever he's planning to do." Anastasia started to see Yuri in a different light after hearing of his origins. She just thought that he was a thuggish idiot who liked to rush in head first into things, though he looked like that wasn't going to change anytime soon.

Thanks to Yusupov's influence with the Imperial guard they were able to enter the city and make their ways to a lesser known sewer entrance where they met the prince himself. "Princess, I'm glad to see you are safe." he said wearing the uniform of the Russian military higher-achy, "I had fears other plans might of had to be put into action.", "What do you mean?", "Several other nobles and myself had a plan in place to kill Rasputin, though after the last few days I doubt we would of done it." taking a key out of his pocket he unlocked the entrance gate.

"This entrance will take you through the old sewers to an empty storage room inside the palace.", "Is the other side clear?" Karin asked not wanting to walk straight into Rasputin's hands, "It is. But you must hurry, you may have to fight your way through the sewers though as it seems monsters and ghosts have taken up residence there.", "Sounds like Rasputin's work, they were empty the last time I went in there." the princess said making the others look at her briefly, "No problem, we've had worse. I know I have." Yuri said chuckling as he kicked the doors to the sewer open.

* * *

After descending they found that the smell was much worse then they thought it was going to be.

"Geez… that is horrid. Smells like a dead fish with gas." Yuri said clamping his nose shut, "I never signed on for this Karin." Asuka said trying not to look down into the dark waters next to them. "Didn't Yusupov mention that it was pretty much a straight shot to the palace?" Gepetto asked, "Yes. This section of sewer was said to be a single tunnel so we should be able to get there without getting lost." Karin said drawing her sword.

Ahead of them they saw a bend in the tunnel and lit any torches along the way, "Blanca you must be suffering more then any of us." Yuri said to the white wolf who shook his head from side to side while making a strange face for a wolf, "His nose must be wrecked after this.", "Quiet I hear something." Joachim said mentioning everyone to stop from his spot at the front of the group, he was unarmed because of there was enough space for him to use any of his large chosen weapons which he seemed to just pick up off the ground.

Ahead they watched as a large blue crystal like head floated out in front of them, before turning slowly towards them. "What is that?" Anastasia asked backing up slightly into Yuri, "This is your city. Don't you know?" before anyone could answer the floating head screamed, its cries echoing through the dimly lit tunnel. Backing up slightly it then charged towards them, in its wake it left behind small patches of ice, "I'll handle this…" Joachim started but trailed off as Asuka merely stepped forward and slashed upwards cleaving the skull in two and hearing its fading scream vanish into the tunnel, "Next time just act. Don't talk." she said moving a stray strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Asuka." Yuri said slightly shaking and moving back as he pointed to were the blue skull had come from, "What?" looking over her shoulder she realised what everyone was scared of. Letting out a ear piercing scream she pointed her sword at the group of floating heads that came around the corner with a swarm of oversized cockroaches below them, since they couldn't head back up the stairs Joachim lowered his shoulder and charged into the group of monsters, knocking them over like they weren't there. "Run!" he shouted as the monsters tried to get their bearings, "Remember act don't talk!" he said smiling as Asuka glared at him as they ran past the muscled oaf and along the sewers walkway.

Yuri kicked off a large cockroach which had clamped onto his leg during their run, they had found the door which they were glad to find wasn't locked but he had to pull off about five of the things before he was sure that he was clean. "I officially hate cockroaches." he grumbled as he got to his feet, "Tell me about it." Asuka said as she and Karin checked each others hair for the roaches.

Lucia looked around the room they had found themselves in, it looked like it was an old storage room which had a number of statues with large blankets over them, but best of all it was empty.

"Well at least its empty." she said looked around as the others cleaned themselves free of any hangers on, "But what's behind the door though?", "Hopefully not Rasputin or one of his hangers on." Yuri grumbled putting on his wrist blades, "Do you really need those?" Asuka asked, "If I see any demons out there then yes I will need them." Yuri said not seeing what the big problem was with the wrist blades.

After Alice died he had been going after the biggest demons he could find, and the wrist blades had come to mind after going against a demon which just absorbed his strongest punches, he quickly got the hang of using them and soon got a custom set made with the most durable materials he could find. Of course he had used them on humans as well with gruesome results, but it was only for those who were worse then all the demons in hell.

"Ready everyone?" he asked as everyone gathered around the door, nodding he opened the door slowly and saw a dodgy looking man standing a few feet away, Yuri could tell he wasn't completely human just by looking at his skin. Stepping out he clamped a hand down over his mouth and nose as he tried to struggle as Joachim stepped out behind him, "Lets not kill him…", "He isn't human." he said calmly as the man grasped at Yuri's arms but he saw the look on his face, "Fine…" he sighed as he knocked the head against the wall, knocking him out cold.

Before they could take note of what was around them a reddish pink mist poured around the corner of the hallway and down the staircase. It was thick enough to make them light headed without breathing it in, "Looks like they've already started whatever they were planning… hey old man you alright?" Yuri asked when he saw Gepetto leaning against the wall, "Don't breathe this stuff in. God… my head fells like a lead weight.". Yuri was about to answer when his head started feeling heavy, "Oh yeah…" he looked around for a moment before walking over to a window and slamming his fist through it. After a few minutes it became easier to breathe without feeling sleepy.

"Well that was unpleasant." Karin said coughing softly as the gas disappeared, "Feel like I just got back from a night on the town." Yuri said chuckling as he remembered the aftermath of the Dollhouse in Europe, but quickly turned to the princess, "So where would Rasputin be then?", "No. If your right then he's got to be going after my family first." before anyone could stop her she took off in the direction of the throne room.

"That girl is driving me crazy." he said as they took off after her, "Wait a minute! You don't know what's around the corner.", "My family!" she called back running through the halls.

* * *

Kicking down the locked doors to the throne room, Yuri entered first since he had been able to over take Anastasia in the hall and entered to find Rasputin standing over them. "Rasputin!" Yuri shouted coming to a stop, "You really think you can beat me again boy? You didn't the first time.", "That was then, this is now. So lets go!" as the others entered he waved his hand in a dismissive gesture and knocked them all to the ground.

When they got up they found that Rasputin had left quickly but Anastasia's family was left alive but unconscious. "Damn it!" Yuri shouted slamming his fists on the marble floor, "Blanca, Gepetto stay with Anastasia and make sure they're alright." Yuri and the others took off to try and catch Rasputin before he got away and they missed the chance to stop him. One way or another Rasputin was going to be dead by the end of the night, Yuri would tear him apart with Amon's claws if he had too.

* * *

Here we go. Done and finished. All you have to do is stay tuned for the next chapter which wraps up the first half of the final Russian stand-off, and yes I know I skipped most of the sewer section but I just couldn't get a good version out of it, I tried like three times to write it out but I just couldn't get anything that was good enough for the rest of this chapter.


	11. Chap 11: The End of Night Queen?

Well this just hasn't been my week. The highlight was my new fisheye lens for my camera, the adaptor that goes with it sucked big time and ended up taking out the focusing section of my 20-50mm lens, so I basically don't have a camera for the moment. More extra shifts for work to pay for the cost of a replacement. Anyway onto the story...

* * *

Arriving in a hallway by the inner garden they saw Rasputin walking up the staircase to the roof of the palace, pausing briefly to grin at them before carrying on upwards. "Got you now freak. Come on." Yuri called out as they headed back towards the front of the palace where the entrance door to the inner garden was.

Thinking that I would be a simple run to the stairs only to get attacked by blue reindeer with wings and a single leg without losing momentum Yuri smashed through the first one that attacked, his wrist blades shattering the beast into powdered snow as the others began to spread out around the group.

Asuka and Karin drew their swords and lashed out before they could be completely encircled by the flying reindeer while Lucia cast a wide arching fire spell which looked like a small tornado taking out two of the monsters and turning them into slush as Joachim took hold of one by its single leg and swung it into another, rendering both into powder. Asuka and Karin finished off the last two as Yuri broke into a run and headed for the stairs, deciding to act as a battering ram as he climbed the spiral staircase. Knocking down any more reindeer that got in his way. He hadn't even realised that he was running like a bull against the snowy demons as he was simply focused on the roof top.

Getting to the top they saw Rasputin standing in front of Veronica, they could hear something off in the distance that sounded like a plane getting closer but couldn't see anything. "No where to run now Rasputin!" Yuri said with a satisfied smirk, "Why don't you make this easy on yourself and just give up.", "My boy you think you can really beat me? How amusing." as he was about to step forward to fight when he was stopped by Veronica.

"Leave them to me my lord." she pleaded standing between the two, "Very well Veronica, don't fail me." he said after a moment of thought, "I bid you farewell Yuri." he said walking over to the far side of the roof, "Hold it!" he shouted about to charge over to him when he was stopped by Veronica firing a blast of dark magic at the ground by his feet.  
"Stop right there! You will not lay a finger on lord Rasputin." she said dropping her whip to the ground and holding her hands together in prayer, "I will stop you myself." Yuri had seen the familiar glow which surrounded her, before when they fought Lenny, and he was right when they saw what Veronica had turned into.

"It looks like a Naga." Yuri mumbled looking up at the sadistic Veronica's new form, standing at least twice the height of Yuri if not more Veronica looked like a giant purple snake with dark black bird wings with a helmet like mask covering the top half of her now grey skinned face and upper body. Her right hand was a mass of tentacles, which Yuri guessed was replacing her whip for her fight.

"I am Night Queen!" she hissed raising her whip arm to strike him but, Yuri dodged it by running towards her before kicking off her body, landing by the others, "Plans?" he asked, as he had no idea what would work against the demon queen in front of him, "How about just hit it until it falls down?" Asuka said bringing her sword up as Karin looked around the roof top and saw it was just a flat opening between two raised service rooms stretching across the roof, leaving no source of cover for them to use in the coming fight.

"That might work but we really don't have any advantage if things start going wrong." Karin said, her military knowledge coming forward, "It's not like we hold the high ground here." she looked up and warned everyone to duck as the tentacle whip of Night Queen missed their heads by a few inches, "Right! Think on the move!" Yuri shouted as he drove his fist in a counter uppercut knocking her back a foot along the roof.  
'Looks like my fists won't be enough for this.' Yuri thought as he moved back and tried to fuse but wasn't able to because he seemed to be the target of the attack, "Die!" Night Queen hissed taking another swing at him, Asuka and Karin had to choose an opening or else they risked hitting Yuri with a swing of their swords. "Yuri back off!" Karin shouted as her sword was set ablaze, "What do you think I'm trying to do!?" he called back as Joachim lowered his shoulder and charged towards the giant monster, connecting the strike he pushed with all his might giving Yuri enough time to fuse into a monster.

Taking the form of Barbaria- The Determined Walker, he was encased in orange and red armour from head to toe and wielding a large broad bladed long sword he walked towards the Night Queen with it resting on his shoulder. Asuka and Karin walked on his flanks, keeping their distance due to the immense heat coming off of Yuri's new form, it was so intense that it was smouldering the roof itself.

"That won't stop me!" she hissed swinging her right arm at Yuri's head, it's tentacles curled into a fist like shape. Yuri simply let out a breath of steam from under his helmet and caught the tentacles with his free hand before they could hit him, "My turn…" he hissed his deep foreboding voice echoed through the night.  
As the Night Queen tried to pull herself free the heat around Yuri increase, he quickly wrapped the tentacles around his hand as his gauntlet began to burn the horrid limb, as smoke began to seep from the arm she began to thrash violently as the pain increased, Asuka and Karin began a almost dance like display around her as they lashed out at the Night Queen.

As Yuri held her in place blades cut her from various angles, opening wounds and letting dark blood spill out across the roof top, Asuka using her abilities to add to the damage as the Night Queen lashed out with her tail and free arm, "She can't use her magic, Yuri hold onto her!" Lucia shouted as she began her own magic, "Joachim go help them!" the former wrestler nodded and charged forward. But had to dodge after Night Queen extended several spiked blades out of her body and racked across Yuri's heated armour, making shallow cuts in it but no real damage, once they had withdrawn Joachim charged again, delivering a powerful shoulder barge which reverberated across the rooftop.

When Lucia cast her earth spell, long thick vines of razor sharp thorns sprang up from under the roof and wrapped tightly around the Night Queen, sinking the thorns in before dragging themselves back underground, leaving deep gashes across it's grey and purple body.

Seeing this as an opening Yuri rose his sword above his head and swung it down with enough force to cleanly cut through the tentacle arm, making her scream out in pain as she retreated across the rooftop towards the edge, "Give it up! You just got creamed you crazy bitch!" Asuka said with glee as they slowly headed towards her wounded form, being careful just in case she had anymore tricks up her sleeves.

"No!" Veronica soon stood in front of them after reverting to her original form, "Damn it. How was I bested so easily?" she groaned leaning up against the wall of the rooftop store room, her body covered in cuts she could barely stand on her own two feet. "Where has Rasputin gone?" Yuri asked reverting back to normal, "I'm not going to tell you of all people." Yuri stared at her before grabbing her and hauling her back onto her feet, pushing her against the wall.

"Look here Veronica! I'm sick of all this secret society bullshit, Lenny killed himself rather then admit defeat, he could of just walked away are you willing to do the same!?" the way Yuri was talking surprised them, they weren't expecting for him of all people to try and talk one of the highest ranking members of Rasputin's organization out of fighting any further.

"I'm sick of seeing people die around me knowing that I can't do anything about it, but you can still do something with yours, don't throw it away." Veronica couldn't reply, she was so taken back by the statement that she couldn't think straight, "Yuri she's too dangerous to be left alive.", "Then we'll lock her up. I've never been happy with taking human lives, unless there is a damn good reason." Karin smiled briefly, she was glad that Yuri was a normal person at heart, she had begun to think that she was enjoying killing a little to much.

"Joachim can you find some guards and rope and we can go after that bastard before he escapes." he nodded and walked off quickly to find someone, "Yuri…", "Don't Karin, I know what I'm doing. Everyone deserves a chance and lets face it she hasn't done anything that can't be forgiven in time. But Rasputin… well that's a whole different story. He's dead." Yuri promised as he stared at the winter sky.

* * *

"Yuri! Yuri wake up!" Karin called out to him as her eyes met his, "Sorry about that." he said snapping out of his daze as he looked up and saw Karin seemed to be panicking about, and saw a large ship similar to Roger's Jet but it was less flashy and covered in armour and cannons.

"What the hell is that!?" he asked getting to his feet, "Rasputin's on that thing!" Asuka shouted over the noise of the massive engines as it lifted up into the sky as she pointed to the top of the vessel where the pale form of the warlock was standing.

"I've got this." Yuri said cracking his joints as he walked forward, "What? How can you beat that thing with your fists?" she asked stepping back, "Easy." Yuri reached into himself and touched on the destructive power of Amon as his soul was torn apart and he became the powerful demon, "It's been a while since I saw that thing…" Asuka said backing off even quicker at the sight of the powerful demon.

Without warning Yuri made a powerful jump into the sky before unfolding his mighty wings, it was then that the cannons on board began to fire at him, and missed.

Soaring through the sky he made a high arcing turn which made it almost impossible for the turrets on top of the flying ship to hit him, before diving down so he was level with the side of the ship. Plunging his clawed hand through the thick armour like it was paper he flew along the side of the ship, taking out all of the cannon's on that side before flying upwards again, only this time landing on the observation deck that Rasputin was stuck on. As he landed there was a massive explosion along the side of the ship from where he had torn through the cannons.

"How can this be? The power of the Mistletoe should of sealed Amon forever!" Yuri seemed to shrug at the question before he punched at the mad monk only to connect with the dark red barrier, sending a shockwave across the deck. Yuri could only smile inside as he put more power behind the punch which soon broke through the barrier that Rasputin had he had raised and the solid fist made contact with his face, sending over the edge into the cold water of the river below them.

Finishing off the ship by sending a barrage of energy balls the size of basketballs into the hull he all but destroyed it as it began to slowly fall into the river after its owner. Yuri had a feeling that Rasputin wasn't going to be killed by going for an unwanted swim in a river, he would have to ask Anastasia to see if there was anywhere that he might be hiding if he did manage to survive the fall.

Yuri suddenly remembered something important about his fusions and how they took a toll on his mind, evident when he reverted to his human form about three hundred meters up in the air before going into free fall. "Crap!" he screamed as one long word as he fell towards the ground, as he got closer and closer he thought he was about to join Alice but a swarm of bats surrounded him and carried him up onto the rooftops much to his relief as he took series of calming breaths.

"It seems I arrived just in time Yuri." a calm voice said holding out a hand to help him up, looking up Yuri was overjoyed to see Keith standing there, "Your damn right you did. Nice to see you Keith." helping Yuri up he was surprised to give him a hug, "Few more seconds and I would have been done for.". He hadn't expected to see the former lord and vampire in Russia of all places but after his failed attempt to fly he wasn't going to complain.

Looking Keith over Yuri was glad he had changed out of the purple suit and into a black pair of trousers with white shirt and black over coat, "Looking the part of the modern noble aren't you?", "Yes. Margarete insisted that I change my clothes the moment we met in Paris… Very insistent." Yuri looked around, "Where is she?", "Our hotel room. I heard the commotion and saw you fighting a ship, and then saw you fall.". "The guy had it coming." Yuri shrugged like he hadn't of even done the act, "Could you get me back over to the palace rooftop? My friends are over there." Keith nodded and summoned another horde of bats which acted as a strange floating platform taking them over to the palace roof quickly.

"Yuri are you alright?" Karin asked running over to them, "Yeah I'm good, thanks to Keith here." Keith greeted the group as Yuri explained how he had met the vampire and their journey together after he finally left his castle after taking up residence there for six months, "Wow that sounds like one wild trip." Asuka said mumbling, her journey after arriving in this world was pretty boring by their standards.

"It was and I am glad to call Yuri and Shinji my friends. I promised to visit later on in the year Yuri, maybe we'll see each other there?" Keith chatted with the them for a few more minutes before he disappeared back to his hotel room. "Seems like a nice guy." Karin asked, "He is, Margarete was the woman I was talking about who liked to do things her own way. She was smitten with him the moment she laid her eyes on him." Joachim arrived with several guards and some rope as Lucia had finished reluctantly bandaging Veronica's wounds, "Take her to a cell. Don't do anything stupid or do anything to her." Yuri warned the guards as they took her away.

"Your doing this for her aren't you?" Karin asked, "Who?", "Alice." Yuri stared at her and just nodded, "She wouldn't of wanted me to tear myself apart or throw my life away. I'm honouring her name and what she believed." Yuri reached into his shirt and pulled out Alice's crucifix along with his own necklace, "I should of seen it sooner, that we're never apart." it was like what Shinji used to say about him, he maybe a little slow at times but he got it in the end.

* * *

Anastasia was shocked to see everyone covered in scrapes and what looked like blood, "What's happened to you all?", "Veronica and some very evil reindeer decided to try and slow us down." Yuri said before sitting on the floor of the hall, he was suddenly very tired after the two fusions and the fight. "Man I'm tired…" he groaned as he had to pinch his arm to keep himself awake as the Tsar entered the room, "My family is resting, I can't begin to thank you enough for what you've done for us. I wish I had known about Rasputin sooner, I would of come straight home from the front." he knelt down in front of Anastasia and hugged her, "I'm so sorry my darling daughter, please forgive me.", "Of course daddy.".

"As for the rest of you, thank you. Thanks to you my country as averted disaster.", "Not yet sir." Asuka said, "There is a slim chance that Rasputin may of survived the fall into the river." Asuka didn't snigger at the irony that Rasputin had meant to of died after he fell into the river in her time, but she realised that in a few years that the Tsar and his family would be murdered, but it was something that she could not change as if it was their own timeline then she would be altering it which Yui warned her about doing unless she had no other choice.

"I see. Well in that case you should start looking at his family tomb, he spends a lot of his free time whenever he wasn't in the palace, that would be the best place to start looking." the Tsar told them but looked at Yuri and the others who were barely keeping their eyes open, "But I think that can wait until morning. I'll send the guards to secure the entrance for you, it's the least I can do. We have some rooms which you can use for the night, breakfast will be waiting for you before you leave.". Yuri and the others thanked the Tsar for his kindness as they retired for the night to a well deserved rest, they would need to be on their toes.

* * *

Veronica sat in her almost barren cell contemplating what had just happened to her on the rooftop of the palace, she had been beaten so easily by Yuri and his friends and after she had joined with a powerful demon goddess in a soul pact. Looking at her hands and arms she was just as surprised to of had her wounds bandaged, but she was thinking back to seeing Yuri's eyes when he had pinned her to the wall, they were full of sorrow but held much strength.

"They took me apart like I was nothing…" she curled up on her bed spread and began to think what they planned to do with her, "And he didn't do anything to help me…" she had given herself to Rasputin body and soul, and he had just threw her away like trash. Her usual confidence and aura of power was now a hollowed reminder of what it was, she couldn't bring herself to admit it but she was now a broken soul, she had always been the centre of attention and was very capable when it came to doing her job even if it was magic and assassination along with other dark acts.

Her whip was gone as were her boots and jacket, leaving her in her leather body and waist corset she wrapped her blanket around her shivering form trying to keep warm in the cell as a draft came in through the window, and with it being Russia at night, it was extremely chilly. It was then that the words came out of her mouth which surprised her but she didn't deny them, "Damn you Rasputin…" she closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep which wouldn't be easy for her.

* * *

Shinji looked up at the sky which a smile on his face. The sun had just risen and he had one of the best nights sleep he could remember, he had decided to get an early start on his chores before he had to head into the city to help Kawashima as she was planning a trip to the north coast of the mainland for a little relaxation with Kato who was due back in a day or two. He and Kurando would be going with them as Kawashima's father and little sister were going as well, he was planning on asking if Misato, Arisu and his mother would be allowed to come with them, he still didn't like being away from his family for more then a day.

"Shinji! What are you doing up so early?", "Saki I was just about to make a start on my chores before heading into the city.", "Oh that's right. Your escorting Kawashima today aren't you?", "Should be alright soon though, what with Kato coming back in a few days." they walked together down the path out of the village heading for the river where they were planning on picking up some fish and shitake mushrooms. "Are you thinking about Yuri and the others?" Saki asked as she carried a basket for the mushrooms, "Can you please stop doing that? It's too much like reading minds.", "Just looking at the future Shinji-kun." she giggled bumping his side with her hip, "I just hope their alright. This Rasputin guy doesn't seem like he's just going to roll over and give up.".

Arriving at the river they set about collecting their food, enjoying each others company. "Shinji have you been thinking about your friends from Tokyo-3 recently?" she asked him as she walked around collecting various edible mushrooms, "Now and again I have. But it's been nearly three years since I got here and only Fuyutski and Asuka have appeared, I haven't given up hope but I know it's a long shot at the same time.".

"I'm sure that you will find them again Shinji, you just have to have faith.", "That coming from someone who can see into the future?" Shinji said grinning as he finished loading up his basket from the fish traps, "Oh shush. Their only glimpses anyway.", "Accurate ones…" he mumbled as he lifted the fish filled basket onto his back. He felt a mushroom bounce off the back of his head as he saw Saki holding back laughter, he was tempted to throw one of the fish in his basket at her but decided he would get her back later, "Come on, everyone must bee awake by now." he knew first hand that the villagers could get very touchy if someone hadn't gone to collect the morning catch from the river.

He didn't want to be dealing with fussy villagers for the rest of the week, it had happened before and he wanted to avoid it, especially the older residents as they liked to poke and prod him with bony fingers.

* * *

Once he had arrived in the city from his village he went straight to the store where he was planning to meet Kawashima, "Yoshiko? Are you in?" Shinji called out as he entered the store, "Just coming Shinji." he heard her reply from the back as she walked out with an elderly man in a blue kimono with a brown jacket and a hat covering his grey hair. "Shinji nice to see you again." Naniwa said bowing slightly, "Kawashima-san." Shinji replied, "How are you today?", "The back is acting up a bit but otherwise I'm fine. Now you two take care." without pausing he sat in the lounge of the antiques store he owned and picked up the paper as Shinji led Yoshiko out of the store and onto the streets of Yokohama.

"Where to first then?" he asked as they headed up the street, "Well how about lunch first? And then we can start preparing for this trip I have in mind.", "About that… I was wondering if I can bring Misato, Arisu and my mother along? I'd feel bad just headed off without them.", "That's fine Shinji, it's only for a few days anyway so you can pack light.", "Does that mean you as well?" he joked as they passed over one of the bridges of Yokohama shopping district.

"Funny Shinji, very funny. Just for that your paying for lunch.", "Ouch, how much is this going to cost me?" he saw her point to a small ramen shop on the corner by the end of the bridge, "That's alright. Is it good?", "Yes, its good value as well. I always eat there for lunch when I'm in the area. Nice and relaxed atmosphere as well." Yoshiko said smiling.

From where they were Shinji could smell the meat and noodles being cooked and it was a heavenly aroma to him, nothing beat freshly made ramen, "That does smell wonderful." they entered the store where three cooks were working over the stoves as two customers sat on what looked like hand carved seats and tables.

"What will it be!?" a woman called out from the kitchen, "Two beef bowls please!" Yoshiko called back, "Coming right up!" they sat down in the corner of the shop and Shinji enjoyed the atmosphere, "It's been a while since I've been to one of these places, I'll have to bring Misato here sometime." when he said her name there was a crash from the kitchen followed by a mumbled apology, "I'm starving after the ride in, I don't know why but that tram ride always makes me hungry.", "I'm not surprised, you always eat loads when you get here." Shinji just shrugged when the woman brought over their orders.

Picking up his chopsticks he was about to tuck in when he looked up to thank the woman, only to drop them into his food. "Maya?" he asked dumbstruck as he looked up at the brunette, "Yes do I know you?" she asked curiously as he held out his hand, "Shinji Ikari. Former pilot of Unit One." he could tell she remembered when she dropped the towel she was holding as he watched her face to one of pure joy.

Shortly before she dived across the table to hug him, he was thankful that Yoshiko had grabbed his ramen bowl out of Maya's dive path, so he could still get his meal after Maya had finished hugging him.

* * *

Yuri and the others slowly walked up to Rasputin's tomb where a number of guardsmen were waiting, the tomb was really creepy, it was a traditional looking mausoleum but with two gargoyles standing outside the front entrance, "Good luck." one of them said as he pushed open the tomb door for them. "Wait for me!" they heard as they looked back and saw Anastasia running up the path towards them, "What the hell is she doing here?" Yuri asked Gepetto who merely shrugged, "I thought we had ditched her in the palace.".

"Princess what are you doing here?" Karin asked, "I'm here to help.", "No offence Anastasia but how can you fight?" Lucia asked only to have her pull our a large metal egg from her back pocket and two photographs, "With these.", "An egg and a photograph, alright let me tell you that this isn't a game. What we're about to do is extremely dangerous." Yuri said trying to stay calm, he wasn't going to spend his life shouting at little girls.

Anastasia just giggled as the egg suddenly hovered into the air on what looked to him like metal wings and quickly flew at his head, when he ducked the egg returned to the princess's hands, "What the hell was that?", "A defence weapon that Edger made for me, neat isn't it?". "I'm afraid to ask what do the photo's do?" Asuka asked taking a step back away from the flying metal egg in case it saw her as a random target, "There printed on an extremely rare film, one that was blessed by holy men and can recall certain types of magic.", "Alright fine you can come, but you do what we tell you. Last thing we need is your father chewing us out because you got a booboo." Yuri grunted in pain as Anastasia kicked his shin.

Yuri grumbled in annoyance as he led the way into the tomb, finding it was merely a dark entrance hall with a set of stairs leading down into the earth, "Does Rasputin even know what a duster is?" Gepetto said waving some cobwebs away from his face, "Just keep your eyes peeled everyone. We don't know what he's got waiting for us down here." Karin warned as she rested her hand on the hilt of her sword, ready to draw it at a moments notice.

As they reached the bottom of the long staircase they saw that the walls, floor and ceiling suddenly changed from being stone to some strange organic metal like material, "What is this place?" Joachim asked stomping lightly on the strange looking floor, "This is my personal domain. The Idar Flamme, I welcome you." they heard Rasputin's voice say off in the distance.

"Come on out Rasputin!" Yuri shouted into the tunnels, "You got a beating coming!", "Foolish boy, do you think that because you have reclaimed Amon's soul that you can beat me?" his laughed echoed through the tunnels as Yuri began to walk towards its source, "Everyone lets go finish this guy off, I'm getting sick of him already.".

As they began to walk down the tunnel ahead of them they saw a soft white light coming from the floor ahead of them, as they got closer they saw something hanging from the ceiling, "Is that an eyeball?" Lucia asked getting closer, "It's got a hole in it. That isn't an eyeball." Joachim answered not wanting to get close to whatever it was he was looking at.

"It seems to be made of the same stuff that the walls and floor are made of." Asuka poked it with her sword, "Don't poke it, we don't know what is going to happen." upon saying it the ball shook, letting green fluid leak from the hole as it began to shake more violently, "What the hell!?", "I told you not to poke it!" Gepetto scolded moving away with the others.

As more fluid drained from the ball, a worm like snake the length of a car fell from the hole, its circler mouth lined with razor like teeth as it snapped at them, moving its leather like armoured skin around the floor as if searching for their target. "It's a worm." Asuka said backing away, "I hate worms." Yuri kicked it across the room and into the wall, which didn't seem to do anything to the creature.

"Alright these maybe a little tougher then I thought they would be.", "And we have more of them coming!" Karin shouted as another one fell out of the eye only to receive a deep cut on its side from her sword as they gathered together in the centre of the room, "Five of them? Where the hell did the others come from!?" Gepetto said preparing a magic crest, "Joachim take out that egg thing, pull it down and crush it if you have to!" Yuri said as he moved to cover the wrestler, "Lucia, Gepetto can we get some magic?".

Letting out a mixture of wind and light magic they only managed to kill one of the creatures, Blanca let loose with a sprit howl taking out another one as Joachim dug his hands into the ball and pulled with all his might, his muscles tightening as it slowly began to move from the wall. "Come on!" he grunted finally pulling it free from the wall and tossing it in the direction of the remaining creatures crushing them easily. When their remains didn't move they relaxed and looked around for any other threats, taken completely unaware by how resistant the worms were to their attacks.

"What were those things?" Yuri asked, "Kind of looked like parasites, how strange." Gepetto mumbled nudging one of the bodies with his foot, "What if we're inside something?" Anastasia said suddenly, "What?", "Well this stuff looks organic doesn't it? And you said that they looked like parasites…" she trailed off when she saw the looks of disgust on their faces.

"I can't believe that actually makes sense… so we've just entered in through… what exactly?" Asuka said looking around what could be any part of a body, "Don't know. Don't want to know either. Lets just get going, faster we move the faster we get out of here." Yuri said walking deeper into the tunnels. The idea of entering through a bodily orifice sent chills down Yuri's spine he wanted to get out of there as fast as possible and have a bath.

* * *

Sorry for the late update I know its been about two weeks but I'm trying to keep on top of things and on top of my work while looking for second job. I promise to keep on top of this though. And yes I know Veronica died in the game but I wanted to put a different spin on things while keeping the base story line the same, I've got something planned for her in the future.

I'd be a hypocrite if I gave up on this without saying anything as I'm seen far to many great stories just disappear without warning on here.


	12. Chap 12: End Of The Mad Monk

Here we go. Still haven't had any luck finding a second job, but still looking. Anyway on with the story.

* * *

Veronica knew that Yuri's group must of entered Rasputin's tomb by now and that they would of encountered the defence parasite things that her former lover had, which made her cringe when she first saw them, and that was difficult to do to her. "Guard?" she called out the door, "What?" came a less then happy reply, "Could I please have a change of clothes? It's getting rather chilly.".

There was some mumbling before she heard a set of footsteps walking away, "We'll get you something." it was then that she said something that surprised even her, "Thank you…" she relaxed back against the wall and smiled softly to herself, she realised she was free to do what she wanted. It felt wonderful.

Rasputin had merely been using her, that much was clear to her now, but she could now follow her own path and build her own life with her own two hands. "When you return Yuri, I guess I should thank you." letting out a long sigh she looked out the barred window, "Slowly at first, don't want them to think I'm going soft." she chuckled at the innuendo of her former profession.

* * *

Yuri and the others soon found themselves in a metal floored stone hall, "Well this is a pleasant change, that nauseous feeling is finally gone." Karin said looking at the three corridors ahead of them, "Which way should we go?", "I say straight ahead." Anastasia said merrily, her metal egg had taken out a number of weak monsters with ease that they had encountered along the organic looking part of the place. "Seems like the best bet, but we don't exactly know what Rasputin has planned for us, do we?" Yuri said walking cautiously towards the middle path, only to be pulled back by Asuka when yellow beams of energy blocked his path, "Thanks that was a close one wasn't it?", "Your just like him." she said smiling at Yuri who was starting to go a funny shade of red, "Who?", "Shinji, your both idiots." he heard Karin laughed as they tried to find a way forwards.

"Maybe we could through you through it?" Anastasia smirked at Yuri who asked why everyone was picking on him, "Excuse me but maybe we should just try and find out how to shut this thing off before anymore of those worms find their way to us." Gepetto warned looking over his shoulder, "Your right old man, lets split up and each take one of these other paths.".Yuri went with Blanca, Joachim and Anastasia to the left while Gepetto went with Asuka, Karin and Lucia to the right.

Yuri looked at the strange room which was at the end of the path they had taken, it was filled with strange devices and he was wondering if he could just smash everything to pieces and see if that did anything, "Blanca can you pick up any scent from these?" he asked the wolf who just shook his head, "Joachim what do you think?", "Truly remarkable machines but I don't see what we can do?", "Yeah I thought as much. What ever these are I guess Rasputin is the only one who knows how to use them.".  
Looking around he couldn't see Anastasia anywhere, "Joachim? Where is our little princess?" they looked around and called her name but didn't get an answer, "Blanca sniff her out please. Can't believe she ditched us like that." the white wolf followed her scent out of the room and back the way they came only to find her walking back towards them, "Did you enjoy your walk princess?" Yuri asked sarcastically, "I was actually trying to help." she said smugly as she pointed to the ceiling where a thick metal cable led from the yellow barrier to the room they had just come from, "That might lead us to what we need to do to shut off that barrier." she walked away proud of what she had just done with Blanca cocking his head at Yuri, "I know buddy I'm confused at what just happened as well.".

It didn't take them long to shut off the barrier after that, something which they gathered they wouldn't hear the end off how she had pointed out the obvious to everyone. Entering the door at the end of the hall behind the yellow barrier they found themselves in a large circler room with Rasputin standing in the middle of it, looking more pale then he usually did.

"Rasputin your in for it now.", "I'm afraid not, you've given me the time I needed to finish my soul pact. So I will now enjoy watching your demise! Come forth Asmodeus! Give me your power!" he shouted holding his arms into the air as the room flooded with light.

Everyone backed off when they saw when the light faded, where Rasputin stood was now some hideous mixture of the mad monk and a demon. His head was at the top of what looked like a giant spine with his shoulders stretched out behind him connected to an inflated membrane which seemed to be acted as a set of wings for the demon, finishing off his grotesque appearance they saw two sets of insect like legs hanging below the spine.

"What has he done?" Gepetto asked aloud, "It's a soul pact alright…" Yuri looked at the pure white eyes of what used to be Rasputin, he decided to match power with power and hoped they would be enough to stop him, reaching into his soul he called upon Amon's power hoping it would be enough to make a difference.

As the large form of Amon's wings appeared between them, the others knew it was going to be a difficult battle for them if Yuri had called on his strongest fusion. Asuka and Karin drew their swords and called upon their own abilities as Joachim joined them at the front of the group as the others stayed back behind them in order to cast their magic safely.

Yuri dove at Rasputin first, using his bulk and claws to cause his damage he tried to climb up the front of him but was knocked off by the limbs smacking him away to the side, only to see Asuka and Karin take over. Slashing out with their swords together they made several deep cuts on the lower part of the membrane, Karin was knocked away by the body smacking into her while Asuka was barely able to dodge it in time. Joachim was lucky enough to catch Karin before she hit the wall and helped her get back onto her feet. "Are you alright?", "Yeah. Didn't expect a body blow that's all." Joachim nodded and dove into the fray as Gepetto finished casting a light crest magic spell which slammed into Rasputin shortly before Joachim did, causing a mini shockwave to bounce around the walls.

Rasputin wasn't going to go down easily which was evident when he darted forwards after recovering from Joachim's attack. Slamming the wrestling vampire against the wall hard enough to make a small crater, "Joachim!" Lucia called out which drew Rasputin's attention. Lucia wasn't as strong as the others and knew a limited amount of offensive magic, but calling on her strongest spell she created a number of thorn covered vines which was able to hold him back from attacking her, stopping him in his tracks only a few feet from her, she then called up various barriers which would help protect against any magic that Rasputin might decide to use. She could see just by looking at him he could use his bulk to crush them instead of using his magic abilities which may of increased in power since his transformation, they wouldn't take the risk in finding it out.

Her eyesight was filled with a red blast of energy coming from Asuka's sword, cutting upwards from the spine to just under the neck of Rasputin's head knocking backwards as Karin unleashed a plume of fire from her sword catching him in the gut, as Yuri appeared in front of his face and delivered a powerful two handed punch down onto his head before kicking off and flying away.

Just as he was about to reach a safe distance away from Rasputin he spun around in mid air and held his hands together where a ball of energy started to quickly form, as it reached the size of a football he threw it towards Rasputin who took it head on, only to smack Yuri out of the sky and into the ground with a crest spell of his own which slammed onto his back and wings.

Anastasia took one of her two photos and threw it at the ground in front of Rasputin, only for the demon that he sent to attack her from before appear in front of him and release a torrent of poisonous water, much like a waterfall around him, but disappeared once it hit the ground. She had rarely had the chance to use her photos but had only had the same one for years, pulling out the second one she placed it on the ground as it turned a brownish colour as it suddenly started moving, before hundreds of cockroaches came spilling out of the photograph, swarming over Rasputin's lower half.

Everyone thought the same thing once they saw the photos come to life, 'that is one hell of a skill' more or less thought at the same time.

Rasputin backed off which surprised everyone but it was when he arched his back and extended his arms that Gepetto realised what he was going to do, "He's going to use a magic crest!" it was to late however when the seal appeared on the floor and everyone felt like they had gotten hit by a small boulder, everyone apart from Yuri was left standing looking uninjured by the magic attack.

Letting out a roar of defiance Yuri attacked Rasputin with his bare hands, aiming to give his friends enough time to recover from their attack. Grabbing one of the four limbs he ripped it off without struggle making Rasputin scream in pain as he watched Yuri toss the arm away, "Thanks Yuri!" Asuka shouted getting slowly to her feet as she rose her sword up, letting her eyes turn red she leapt to attack Rasputin from five different spots as he struggled to smack the red headed swordswoman to the ground.

Blanca called a number of spirit wolves to cover Asuka's attack, which tore through the softer parts of Rasputin's cursed body as if it wasn't even there, he kept close to Lucia and Anastasia in order to protect them, he knew Gepetto could hold his own with his magic but he couldn't just stand by and let the girls get injured. It was then that he saw Rasputin's body tilt to the side slightly as if it was panting, "Kid finish him! He's getting weaker! The pact is beginning to fail!" Gepetto shouted as Yuri renew his attack on the demon monk.

Joachim joined in as the two powerful fighters slammed their bodies into Rasputin in a bone jarring tackle pushing him backwards as Karin and Asuka unleashed another barrage of magical sword attacks, before jumping away as Gepetto and Lucia let their strongest spells slam into the mad monk, finishing him.

"Damn you!" he groaned, his voice sounded distorted from being in a demon form, "I will not be beaten by the likes of you." he and Yuri reverted to their human forms, Yuri was forced to by the strain it was putting on his soul being in Amon's form for so long really did a number on him. "Looks like you have been you pale piece of shit." Yuri panted as the monk staggered back towards a small alter at the rear of the chamber, "No! I will bring this tomb down around you!" he started laughing as he smashed the orb which sat on the alter.

As soon as the glass hit the floor of the chamber the entire structure began to shake violently, as the ceiling began to come down one of the rocks landed on Rasputin, ending his existence. "We've got to go now!" Karin shouted as they backed out of the chamber, "Don't need to tell me twice." Yuri said breaking into a run with the rest of them as Joachim picked up Gepetto who wouldn't be able to keep up with them.

* * *

The Imperial guards had to hold onto whatever they could to stop themselves from falling as the ground shook around them, nobody knew what was going on but Yuri's group had been underground for almost an hour and they couldn't bring themselves to enter the tomb to look for them without knowing what was down there. "What on earth have they done down there?" one asked dropping his rifle, "Don't know! But stand strong!" an older guard called to his comrades as the door to the tomb fell open and Yuri and the others scrambled out covered in dust and scrapes.

There was a silence which followed after the tomb building collapsed on itself as Yuri and the others caught their breath and gave the older guard who was staring at them the thumbs up, "That was a close one." he said straightening himself up, "But you don't have to worry about Rasputin anymore." the guards were silence for a moment before they gave them a cheer.

"You still have one problem Yuri." a confidant yet weakened woman's voice came from behind the soldiers, "Veronica? What are you doing here? I thought you were locked in your cell?", "I was but I asked to be escorted here to deliver a … message I guess you could say.", "Speak then." Gepetto urged, "Nikolai. I'm sure you remember him, he is still a danger to you, to everyone. I suggest you try and find him before he finds you.", "Doesn't he know that Rasputin has just taken a prolonged vacation to hell?" Asuka wondered, "He's dead?" she asked surprised, "Yeah. Didn't go down easy though." Veronica slowly walked towards Yuri and stood in front of him before taking his face in her hands and kissing him softly.

"I owe you much more then I first thought Yuri. Thank you. I've there is anything, and I mean anything I can do for you just ask." she smiled as him as he went the faintest shade of red, "No. I mean… that's alright." he stuttered looking away from her face, "Pity." she lifted her finger to her chin in thought before smiling again, "I know how about the location of a certain artefact, with the power to potentially bring the dead back to life if used the right way." Yuri looked up at her, his eyes focused at her, "What are you saying?", "The Moon Crystal. It's located in the Queens Garden, Scotland. I believe you can put it to good use Yuri.".

"Consider this my thanks to you Yuri, I hope your journey ends well." she turned to the guards who had escorted her and clapped to get their attention, "Let's go my pets." she laughed joyfully as she was led back to the palace, "Well look's like she's back to normal, only nicer. I guess." Joachim said rubbing the back of his head.

Yuri was still thinking about what he had just been told, there maybe another way to bring Alice back without using the Manuscript, "Alice…" he mumbled with a small smile as he began laughing with joy as the heavens opened and rain began to fall.

* * *

Shinji looked across at Maya and Aoba as Hyuga finished shutting up the store, he still couldn't believe that he had found three more people who he had cared about and that they had been so close to home. He knew people were going to say how stupid he was for missing them, even after going to and from the city for the last two years.

Maya was still drying her tears on a towel after Yoshiko had managed to pry her off her escort after his food had begun to cool off, "I'm so glad your alright Shinji… I just didn't know we'd ever find someone else again." she fought back another round of tears as he held her hand trying to stop it from happing.

"I'm glad I did find you, the others will be happy to see your safe and sound.", "Others?" Aoba asked, his usual long hair now tied back in ponytail, "Yeah. Asuka and Fuyutski came though, my mother and Misato as well.", "Your mother? I thought she had died?" Maya asked, "Long, long story. But I think you two would get along.", "What about Misato? How is she?" Hyuga asked joining them at the table, "She's healthy as can be. Arisu is keeping her busy." the three former bridge techs looked at each other in confusion.

"Oh sorry I forgot that." Shinji said laughing at himself, "Arisu is our daughter.", "Adopted?" Hyuga asked in what sounded like hope to Yoshiko, "No… She's ours. We've been together for just about three years now.", "Congratulations Shinji." Maya said asking if she could see Arisu sometime. "Sure she'd love that. In fact if you'd like to wait until this afternoon I could take you to see her. We live in a village just outside the city.", "I have a question Shinji. Why do you look older?" Aoba asked only to have Shinji shrug, "My best guess is when the Angel pulled me through I somehow aged a bit. I'd put my age at about twenty five-ish." he said smiling, "And who is this?" Maya asked looking at Yoshiko.

"Oh this is Yoshiko Kawashima, former Japanese army. She helped us in China a few years ago and helped us settle down in our village. In return I'm her escort while her husband to be is away on business.", "Kato is not my husband." she whispered harshly as Shinji just laughed, "You say that now, but you two are made for each other. And besides we helped you out so you owe us." Shinji grinned as Yoshiko playfully slapped him."I don't know why you deny it, your getting married in a few months anyway aren't you?", "How do you know that?" she asked stunned, "You talk in your sleep. You dozed off on the tram back to the village, you even tried to kiss my shoulder." Shinji smiled as she went a nice shade of red making everyone laugh as Yoshiko suddenly found her hands interesting as the laughing trailed off.

Shinji left after saying his goodbyes along with Yoshiko leaving the bridge techs alone in their shop, "Well that's a high note to go into wasn't it?" Aoba asked as they headed back into the kitchen, "I just can't believe that Shinji and Misato ended up together? I mean back then they were complete opposites but now it seems like Shinji is more open then he was, and he was smiling. I don't think I've ever seen him smile before." Maya said as she checked over all the cooking equipment.

"Yeah he's lucky all right." Hyuga said mumbling off to one side, it was then that his friends remembered that the man had a huge crush on Misato, "Sorry Hyuga I guess that was a little tough for you to hear?" Maya asked him, "A little but I think I can get through it… it was just a little surprising to hear him say that.", "I guess it was a bit of a shocker, but they seem like there happy together. We'll find out later today I guess." Aoba said going back to the washing up which had stocked up after they shut the shop to catch up with Shinji, "How does this keep happening?" he wondered aloud as he started scrubbing.

Maya gave Hyuga one last glance as he went about cleaning the counters, she hoped he would be alright, she could see that he wasn't letting out his true feelings about the whole thing and hoped that he came to terms with it soon otherwise she couldn't tell what could happen if he let tear at him from the inside.

* * *

When they arrived at the village they were surprised to see how peaceful it was and how beautiful it was. "This is where you live Shinji? It's beautiful." Maya said in awe as she took in the sight in front of her, "Greetings." Saki said appearing behind them, making them all jump, "Saki I told you not to do that!?" Shinji said catching his breath, "You'll give me a heart attack one of these days… Everyone this is Saki Inugami, the leader of this village and a good friend of mine. Saki this is Maya, Aoba and Hyuga who I used to work with in Tokyo-3." Saki greeted them and lead them into the village, "So you know about us Saki?" Maya asked, "Yes. I've seen glimpses of Shinji's past, your time is a very… interesting place. Though there are people I would like to see the back of." she said with a dark smile.

"Is everyone up at the house?", "Yes. Yui is cooking us dinner, I've told her to prepare three more plates anyway.", "As long as Misato stays away from the kitchen until I've finished teaching her." Shinji paled as he thought about her cooking, he loved her but not enough to wilfully eat her cooking.

"Heard anything from Yuri yet?", "No not yet. I'm hoping he hasn't done anything stupid, though knowing him I wouldn't put it past him." Saki laughed as they headed up the slope to the house, it was then that Shinji smelt Yui's cooking from halfway along the path. "Oh that smells nice.", "My mother's cooking has come a long way, she might actually be getting better then me." he paused just before they got to the doors and turned to them, "Oh and prepare yourselves for a giant hug." he said opening the door.

"Misato! I'm home." he called out as a babies soft crying filled his ears, "Shinji. I'm glad your back…" she walked out holding Arisu in her arms and saw Maya and the others standing behind Shinji, "How?…" she said softly, "I found them in a Ramen shop in Yokohama, seems they were right under our noses." Misato handed Shinji their daughter and wrapped her arms around the three and hugged them, holding back her tears, "I'm so glad you three are safe." she said joyfully as she nuzzled them in her usual casual manner.

"Come on Arisu, lets go and see what your grandmother has been cooking? Smells good doesn't it?" he walked away into the kitchen deciding to let Misato and the bridge staff have their reunion in private, "Hey." walking up next to Yui he peered at what she was cooking and was surprised to see it was a western dish, "Something different?", "Need to polish my skills after being gone for so long, and a mother has to be better at cooking then her son." she said, which sounded a lot like determination to him, "Mom it's alright. Whatever you cook will taste wonderful, you just have a natural talent for making even plain dishes taste wonderful. I can't do that all the time." Yui smiled as she turned the heat down on the cooker.

"Who's out there?" she asked washing her hands as they waited for the food to finish cooking, "Oh yeah. It's some of the bridge staff from NERV, there nice people I think you'll like them. Especially Maya." Yui was led out into the hall where Misato was still hugging the three and they were looking rather worried, "Misato I think they want to breathe normally for the moment." Shinji said as Misato let go and picked up Arisu from her husbands hands.

It was at that moment that Maya was able to see the three together as husband and wife, "You two look great together." she said, "Thanks Maya, and everyone I'd like to introduce my mother, Yui Ikari." it was at that point that Maya's mouth dropped open, "T-the original head of Project E?", "But I thought that she had died?" Yui just giggled softly and smiled at them, "I got better.".

"I'll say. You were stuck in unit one for ten years." Misato said, "I'm glad I was freed when we came through the Dirac Sea of the Angel. I always had a theory about the Dirac Sea but I guess my questions were answered when I landed in that tree above you Misato when we first arrived.", "Miss Ikari. I do have a few questions but it can wait I'm just amazed that I'm actually meeting you!" Shinji couldn't help but smile at how Maya was all but gushing over his mother.

"Our Maya is always learning isn't she?" Aoba said as Hyuga nodded silently, "Is something wrong Hyuga?" Misato asked him, "No. No. Just a little surprised at all this that's all." Misato nodded and led them into the kitchen where Yui's dinner had almost finished, "I hope your all hungry." saying they were they sat down to dinner.

* * *

Talking into the night, Saki offered them to stay the night as the tram's weren't running at night. Offering Aoba and Hyuga to stay in the guest room as Maya was allowed to stay in Yui's, earning a blush from the young woman.

However it was Misato who found Hyuga standing outside looking up at the stars, he didn't hear her walk up behind him until she tapped him on the shoulder, "You know Shinji did that the first night we we're here. Spent four hours just staring up at the sky and said he was wondering where everyone was." she let out a sigh as she stood next to him, "Of course that was after his best friend Yuri had merged with a demon and disappeared. He wasn't the same for six months, I could tell that something was missing. But when he came back after finding him I could tell that he was back to normal." she looked over at Hyuga, "Everything will work out in the end Hyuga, remember that.".

"Thanks Misato… but I don't know…", "Tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help?" Hyuga looked at her and sighed, "It's you actually, when I heard your married to Shinji… well I just felt any hope drain from me." Hyuga said being honest with the target of his affection, "Hyuga… I knew you always had a thing for me but…" she trailed off knowing that if she said that they worked together it would be a poor excuse, seeing how she was now married to Shinji who she worked with.

"But I didn't really know what I wanted? Sure I was with Kaji on and off but I knew it wouldn't really last between us, we were looking for completely different things." she took Hyuga's hand in hers, making sure she didn't shoot him down harshly. "That fact is Shinji was the first person to make me feel wanted, and I mean more then just friends. I would have been lying to myself if I said that I didn't have feelings for him. Hell I even told Ritsuko… that conversation didn't go well." Hyuga let out a small laugh at the effort to make him feel better.

"Hyuga I'm sorry I really am. Your beyond a nice guy, heck your on par with Shinji and that's saying something. I know you'll find someone, guaranteed." Misato held her hand over her chest as if making a vow of some sort, "Thank you Misato…" Hyuga hugged her for a while and they stayed like that for a few minutes as the crickets chirped in the background.

"I guess I better get to bed then." he said smiling as he walked back towards the house, "Hyuga." she said to him making him turn around, "You and everyone are welcomed here anytime. We're still friends, right?", "You bet Misato." she looked up and saw Shinji smiling at her from their bedroom window.

* * *

Yuri gave a long stretch after he rolled out of bed, the Russian cold making him feel strangely at home as he nearly tripped over Blanca who was curled up on the floor, "Stupid wolf…" he yawned as he started to get dressed, the previous days events slowly replaying in his head, "Alice… I can see Alice again." Roger was still making adjustments to his Jet so decided to visit him before heading off to Scotland.

Sneaking out of the palace before everyone woke up he headed off to the woods were he hoped Roger was still waiting with the ship so he could talk to him about the whole Moon Crystal thing, if he knew about it then he would ask him to fly them to Scotland so he could get it.

"Roger! Where are you!?" he called out as he approached the Jet, "Hey! Were are you Roger!?", "Alright calm down Yuri, my hearing isn't that bad just yet." Roger said walking down the entry ramp still wearing his brown robe and clogs, "What do you want? I'm busy.", "I need your knowledge so lets crack open that head." Roger cocked his head the side, "It's going to be a lot if your asking isn't it?". Roger led him back into the Jet so they had somewhere to sit down while they discussed it.

"What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" he asked sitting down on a chair while Yuri sat opposite him, "The Moon Crystal, tell me about it?" Roger's face was a poker face if ever Yuri saw one, "Where did you find out about that?", "One of Rasputin's former followers told me. She said it was in Scotland, is it true?", "Yes. But I can think of only one reason why you would want that item." Yuri leant forwards and looked at his hands, "I want her back Roger, I'm coping but it's getting harder and harder each day. If this can work then I want to try.".

"It will take some time to set up. The ritual isn't something that can be done in a few minutes. And even if it's done right there is a chance that it simply won't work.", "Why?" Yuri asked wanting to know as much as he could about it, "Because she's been dead for over a year Yuri, this ritual is for people who have been dead for a few months at the most. Using it on someone who's been dead for over a year is going to be a stretch.".

"I need to try Roger, and I can't do it without your help." Yuri asked looking at the small warlock, "Who am I to say no. Heck I miss Alice as much as you, I'll start the preparations as soon as possible once I get back to Wales.", "We've still got to track down Nicolai before we can put this whole evil plan thing to sleep for good." Yuri groaned sitting back in his chair.

"Can you go back to Japan though?" Roger asked, "I guess so. Rasputin's dead so I don't see why not.", "Once I've dropped you off I'll head back to Wales to set everything up and come and get you once I've finished.", "Sounds like a plan Roger. And thanks for this, I mean it.", "You can thank me later when we bring her back.".

Getting back to the palace he saw the Tsar talking with the head of the Palace Imperial Guard, "So he's disappeared?", "Yes sir I'm afraid so. We can't find him anywhere, no body's seen him." Yuri walked up to them and the Tsar noticed him, "Yuri, glad to see your well rested after your fight with Rasputin.", "Yes, it was a close one your highness. What seems to be the problem?" he asked politely as he looked around at the guards hurrying to and from the palace.

"We had spies tracking Nicolai's position during everything that was going on, he's always been the subject of suspicion but he has just disappeared.", "You've been tracking him before this? Why?" the Tsar looked around to make sure there was no one overhearing their conversation, "Nicolai is my son. My bastard son. I've been keeping an eye on him ever since he was born. I've known about his ties to Rasputin but he's had his own plans to take power without that mad monks help.".

"So he was actually trying for power, and in the chaos of Rasputin taking you out he would take control of Russia as the sole survivor of the Royal Family, or at least the closest relative.", "Exactly. If you find him, stop him. By any means possible.", "He's your son though?", "He stopped being my son when he tried to harm our people." Yuri nodded in understanding.

"So we can go back to Japan?" Asuka asked smiling as Yuri explained what Rasputin's death had done, "Yeah, but with got be on the look out for Nicolai on our travels. He's likely gone under ground for the time being until he figures out what to do with himself. Russia's safe though, even he can't stand against the military with his power.", "Well what are we waiting for? Let's get on the Jet and head for Japan!" Asuka said jumping to her feet, eager to get back to Shinji and Misato again.

"Whoa hold your horses there missy. Nicolai isn't someone who we can just let run around free." Gepetto said "Well then your in luck." the Tsar said walking into the room, "My spies have caught sight of Nicolai boarding a freighter heading for Kobe, Japan. Sadly we weren't able to follow him.", "Well it looks like we're going to visit Shinji and family yet again." Yuri said stretching himself, "Thank you for all your help Tsar Nicolas.", "I should be thanking you Yuri, you and your friends were the ones who saved our country.".

The Tsar turned to leave and stopped as he remembered something, "Oh and that Veronica woman wants to speak with you." Yuri shuddered at the thought, sure he was happy enough that she had seen what she was doing in the past was wrong but he was just nervous around her.

He got to Veronica's cell and saw her in a white blouse and form fitting tanned pants, she was still wearing her platform boots but she had a pleased smile on her face. "So I heard that your going after Nicolai? Is that true?", "Yeah. We got a lead on him and we're following it. Why?", "I'd like to join you." Yuri shook his head straight away, "No chance. You've clearly turned away from Rasputin but how do we know we can trust you? It sounds harsh but it's the truth." instead of springing to her defence she just walked towards the bars and smiled at him.

"Your right not to trust me, I wouldn't either. Less then two days ago we we're fighting each other to the death, saying that you opened my eyes to how I was being used by someone I thought loved me." she held herself and sighed, "I'm not asking for forgiveness Yuri, I've done some horrid things in my life, stuff that I haven't been proud of. But I want to help you." she looked up at him with a smile, "Besides I'm outnumbered eight to one or something so I'm not really capable of winning any fight, and besides I'm in no condition to fight for a long time. That soul pact has drained almost all of my magic power." leaning against the bars she continued, "I'll be lucky to light a candle with the magic power I have left, the only damage I would be able to do is with my whip. Would you like that?" she asked huskily whispering to Yuri.

He quickly backed off away from the bars while turning an interesting shade of red, "Hey watch it! I'm not like that…" he mumbled, "Yuri… I hope you get her back I really do. You may not say it but your heart is scarred deeply.", "What do you know?" he said not sounding angry or surprised, "Your not the only one who has lived a pained life Yuri. I wasn't always like this believe it or not. Is it wrong to want to redeem myself?", "No…" Yuri stared at her for a while and nodded to the guard standing down the hallway, "Fine you came come but don't try anything funny or else you'll be back in a cell faster then you can say 'surprise'."

Veronica giggled as she bowed to him, "I promise to be a good girl." Yuri asked the guard to unlock her cell but did so reluctantly, Yuri promised he knew what he was doing. Once she was out he handed her back her whip but left the eye piece she usually wore, she didn't want to see it ever again.

* * *

Before people flame me, this isn't a Yuri X Veronica story, so don't worry. I wanted to do something more with Veronica, and this is the start of it all. I've thought about the next few chapters and they will take a while to put together as the old draft of them is completely ridiculous, I must have been drunk when writing it as there are so many mistakes. But I'll get there. Thanks for reading.


	13. Chap 13: Rescue The Princess

Alright sorry about that wait again. Time got away from me, i hadnt noticed its been so long since the last update.

* * *

Shinji sat on the beach in a pair of sandals and shorts as Misato, Yui and Arisu sat next to him on a large beach towel. Yoshiko and Kato were on his left while Maya and the others were in front of them, he was surprised to find the beach almost deserted when they arrived he had joked that Yoshiko had privately reserved the beach herself. Kurando was there as well only he was wearing his usual clothing along with his sword, "Can he ever take the day off? I mean we're all together and we have you here Shinji-kun.", "I doubt it, I think even when he's asleep he's on the job." Misato and Yui giggled at the mention of Kurando overworking as he scanned the surrounding area.

"Kurando sit down and relax will you? There's no monsters area here, I would of sensed them if there was. And I doubt there is anyone within five miles of us.", "Sorry I'm late!" looking up he saw Fuyutski walking towards them in shirt and shorts, "Well that's ruined my credibility. Misato you packing?" she patted to the basket which held their belongings, "Never leave home without it." Shinji kissed her for being so careful as Yoshiko made some playful gagging sounds.

Shinji stared at her with a light-hearted glare, "Excuse me? Looks who's talking missy, you're the one who's all love struck with muscles there." Yoshiko went pink while Arisu got Shinji's attention by poking him in the side "Does my little princess want a kiss?" Shinji cooed while picking her up and rubbing their noses together, "I pity any boy who tries to ask you out on a date.".

Misato smacking him on the arm lightly, "She'll date who she wants to." Shinji gave her a questionable look, "So what if she starts dating a yakuza thug?", "Hell no, I'll shoot him first… okay point taken.".

"This is such a beautiful spot how did you find it?" Maya asked looking out over the ocean ahead of them, "We used to come here every summer. It's sad though that my father and sister couldn't make it today.", "Why's that?", "She's got a cold and my father said we should go ahead and enjoy ourselves, he said the beach wasn't going anywhere and all but pushed us out the door.".

"Well at least he knows what he's doing?" Shinji quipped as he spotted something above them, "Oh god what is that?" he pointed up to the object spiralling across the sky, "Does that look like an aircraft to you?" Kato asked as the aircraft took a sudden drop towards the ocean, "It does…" Shinji said as it got closer as his shoulders slumped forwards, "Misato remind me to punch Yuri when he lands that thing." Misato gave him a thumbs up as she began to walk away from the waters edge,

"You might want to move back everyone! Looks like it's going to be a water landing!", Shinji walked towards the water as the Jet slowly levelled out before dipping into the water and skipping along like a giant stone, "You dumbass…" he mumbled before calling up his power, ready to deploy his AT field should the worse happen.

* * *

When the Jet skidded into the water it finally came to rest in the sand next to them, the cockpit window semi-submerged. Walking over he waded up to the window and knocked on it, seeing a bunch of glaring faces staring back at him as he gave them a friendly wave through the window, "Good parking!" he called out as he saw Yuri and Asuka give him the finger.

"Roger! Where's the hatch?" the warlock pointed to the side as he got his bearings, seeing it Shinji opened it and poked his head into the cockpit, "So you dropping in for the weekend or you staying for a while.", "Funny Shinji, very funny." Yuri said rubbing the bump that was forming on his forehead, "Yuri… when I agreed help you I wasn't expecting for you to try and kill me hun." a woman's voice said from the back of the seating compartment, "Alright Veronica stop complaining…", "Well you got great timing anyway. We were just relaxing on the beach when you dropped in.", "I swear Shinji one more pun and I'll kick you to Osaka and back." Shinji just chuckled to himself as he dropped inside, "At least you landed in one piece.".

"Where did we crash anyway?" Veronica asked walking into the cockpit itself and saw Shinji "Just along the coast from Kamakura miss." Shinji said to the stranger, "Well who's tall and handsome here?" she asked smiling sweetly at him, "Shinji Ikari and I'm married miss, happily married." she smirked anyway, "Can't blame a girl for trying.", "Is she related to…", "Margarete? No, I already thought of that." shrugging Shinji poked his head back out and called to everyone that they were alright.

"Speak for yourself! I'm an old man." Gepetto said groaning as he pushed Blanca off him, "I take it Rasputin's dead?" Shinji asked, "Yup. As a dodo.", "Good, in that case your welcome back in Inugami village, Saki will be happy to see you again.", "I'm glad." Yuri looked at Shinji who was holding his hand out, "Come on lets get you out of here. We got Sake if your interested?".

Shinji helped everyone out including Roger and Veronica who latched onto him a little longer then he would of liked, but she seemed nice enough to him.

"Everyone looks who's back." he said as they walked over to the his wife and friends, "Asuka… Look who else we've found." she poked her head out over Karin's shoulder and saw Maya, Aoba, Hyuga and Fuyutski smiling at her, "Oh my god!" she latched onto them in a hug, happy to see more people she knew.

"I can't believe it, your all safe.", "Asuka I'm glad your alright." Fuyutski said, "I can only hope you can forgive me for my hand in your past." Asuka waved him off, "It's you I can forgive but not the other one… he's going to pay if I ever see him.", "Join the cue Asuka, I'm first in that one." Asuka smiled at the sight of Shinji's spine showing, she was glad he had changed for the better.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your new companion?" Shinji asked looking at Veronica but careful not to make eye contact with her, "This is Veronica Vera. One of Rasputin's former lieutenants." Shinji looked at Yuri with a questionable look, "It's alright, she's helping us track down the last member of that organization I was telling you about.", "Oh yeah something Latin sounding wasn't it? But I think I have every right to be careful about what happens around me and my family." Yuri dragged Shinji off to one side and whispered about the Moon Crystal, "Your kidding?".

"No. She's telling the truth, I asked Roger about it and he reckons it could work with enough planning… I could have her back Shinji.", "As long as you never pick up that book Yuri, even to move the damn thing. Never pick it up.", "I'm not going to but this could be my best chance to get her back." Shinji looked at his friend and knew deep down he would try anything to get her back but hoped that common sense prevailed.

"Alright, you know I'll help you anyway I can.", "Thank you. But we're stuck until Roger fixes that thing and then we can get to Scotland get the crystal and come back without much trouble." Shinji snorted trying not to laugh to loud, "Any chance this place your looking for is empty or can you expect a guardian or horde of monsters?" his answer was Yuri shrugging as they walked back over to the fairly large group now on the beach.

"Well not that I'm not happy to see everyone but I think the rest of us would like to enjoy the rest of our beach vacation." Misato said bouncing Arisu up and down on her knee, "Why don't you relax a bit in town? It's not to far away, you can grab something to eat and we can meet back here in the afternoon." Yoshiko proposed, "Or you can relax on the beach with us." Kato added still surprised at seeing the strange flying machine half buried in the water.

* * *

Asuka, Yuri, Blanca and Veronica decided to stay on the beach while everyone else decided to go into town, and Shinji decided to send Kurando along with them to make sure they didn't get lost much to the delight of the Russian princess who latched onto the young samurai straight away. "You did that on purpose didn't you?" Yuri asked, "Of course. It's about time someone gave him the push and I'm glad it was me." Shinji was proud of himself for dropping him into the hands of the princess and just hoped that she would go easy on him.

Veronica shifted closer to Shinji which made him more uncomfortable with every inch, he knew that Misato had her gun but didn't know if it was actually loaded and he hoped it wasn't, she was clearly possessive when it came to other women flirting with him. "What's wrong Shinji? You look tense." she purred in his ear as Misato dealt with Arisu, "I'm not tense its just me being scared that my wife is going to shoot you. Her gun is never out of arms reach when we're out.".

"I don't mind a bit of competition.", "I'm married. What part of that don't you understand?", "I'd be up for sharing you, I'm flexible Shinji. And besides your wife is very, very attractive." Shinji couldn't help himself, he thought of the possibilities involving two beautiful women, "Damn it… No, I'm married.", "Shinji… Are you alright your looking a little red?" Misato asked making him go rigid much to Yuri's delight as he laughed loud enough to draw everyone's attention.

"What are you laughing at?" Asuka asked, "Shinji's having naughty thoughts. Isn't that right Shinji?" Asuka looked at Shinji who was looking down at his feet with a red face, "You… baka hentai!" she screamed smacking him across the beach and into a clump of trees. "Well it looks like things are starting to get back to normal." Misato said with a straight face as she watched her husband roll out of a bush. "Yuri… are you trying to get me killed!?" he seethed as he walked back towards them, "I wasn't the one having dirty thoughts with your wife nearby.", "I- I was not!" he protested as his cheeks went red once again.

"Shinji." Misato said calmly with a smile as she looked at her husband, "Is it true?", "Misato…", "Is it true?" she asked again as Shinji made his way back over to them, "Alright, yes. But with reluctance, they!" he pointed to Veronica and Yuri, "We're putting idea's into my head. Which as you know is rather empty." Shinji tried berating himself as an effort to save his skin.

Without saying anything she handed Arisu over to Yui who covered her ears as Misato pulled out her gun, Yui quickly covered her eyes as well, "Shinji…" she took aim as everyone started to protest at the shooting until they saw Shinji throw up a orange tinted barrier just as several bullets impacted before falling to the sand, "…Don't do that again." Shinji nodded, sweating slightly at how easy she had shot him but didn't complain as he sat back down as Arisu crawled over to him.

"You." Misato pointed at Veronica, "Don't put the moves on my husband like that again, or I'll hammer you into the ground like a tent peg. Got it?" Veronica smiled and nodded as she went back to relaxing like the threat was meaningless, Yuri knew it would be wise not to say anything for the moment in case Misato threatened him as well.

However it was Maya who was the one who broke the silence, "What the heck was that!?" she demanded pointing at Shinji, "That was an A.T field!", "Yeah, didn't I mention that? I thought I did?", "No!" she cried as the others looked on, "Oh well. When I came through the portal after the Angel swallowed me, I guess I picked up a part of its soul or something along the way because I can do that, a cross blast and I can heal minor injuries." Shinji explained as if it was nothing.

Maya turned to the others and asked if they knew about all of it and they just nodded causing her to faint whether from confusion or fright, "Maya?" Aoba reached over and started on trying to wake her up, Shinji was a little surprised at the reaction he knew he had explained his aging to them but guessed he had left out the part about his soul being part of Lilith.

* * *

Once they arrived back at the house Saki was overjoyed to see them once again and gave everyone hugs, but had told that not everyone would be able to stay in the house and would have to stay in the village, it was then Yuri was asked to stay behind with Kurando as Saki said she wanted to explain something.

"Yuri you know your father Ben Hyuga? Don't you?", "Yeah. He was seen as a hero in Shanghai. Why do you ask?", "Ben had a sister." Yuri didn't know what to say once he heard that, but he managed to form some sentence after a minute, "So I have a family? A relative? Who?" Saki's smile could of gotten any bigger when she said one simple word, "Me.".

Kurando was just as surprised at the revelation and was questioning everything, "So we're related?" he asked pointing to Yuri, "Yes. I'm your aunty Yuri." she smiled as he wrapped her up in a hug, "Why the hell didn't you bring this up before? We've known each other for about a year now.", "You had so much going on, I didn't want to add more to it." she said pouting, getting her another hug.

"You still should of said something.", "I can't believe I'm related to you," Kurando said still surprised at the revelation, "Oi! What it!" Yuri warned looking over his shoulder, "Just because we're family doesn't mean I won't knock you on your ass every once and a while.", "I'd like to see you try." he said with a calm smile as he patted his sword hilt.

"Boys." Saki warned, "Settle down. Come on, group hug." Saki said opening up one arm to pull Kurando in, "Isn't this nice? One big happy family." Yuri and Kurando looked at each other for a brief moment before looking away, they didn't like one another with Shinji and Saki being the only safe way for them to spend any time together.

"Does Shinji know?", "Yes. He's always known." Saki said still smiling in the hug, "That little bastard." he said astonished at knowing Shinji had known all along that he had family, "I'm going to kill…" he looked down and saw Saki glaring up at him, "…beat him to a pulp.", "Better but I'd still rather you didn't hurt him. He's got a family." Yuri looked at her with a small smirk, "So have I.".

* * *

Shinji sighed as he watched everyone in the village go about there business, he had been thinking a lot about the future and was no longer sure about if he wanted to stay in Japan, he had enjoyed travelling with Yuri and the others in the past but he also had to think about his family. "I've got plenty of time to think about it and I'm not going anywhere at the moment.", "Good. I wouldn't want my husband to disappear." looking around he saw Misato leaning against a tree with a small grin on her face, but Shinji could see a sad look in her eyes.

"Misato… I didn't hear you there." he went back to looking out over the village as Misato sat down next to him, "You really thinking about leaving?" she asked, "I'm thinking about travelling, I'd never leave you Misato. Or Arisu.", "Good answer Shinji. Maybe when Arisu is older we could all go travelling together." she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, "I think that would be prefect.".

"As I said I'm not going anywhere yet. Might be years before I decide to go for a wonder. But I am going to ask you if I can help Yuri find Nicolai. He's in our backyard after all." Shinji asked hoping that Misato understood, "It won't be like Europe will it?", "No. I'll be able to call you every night and depending on where we are I'll be able to come home and sleep in the same bed as my empress." Misato looked up at him surprised at the comment, "Did you call me…?", "Only the best for you Misato. When this is over… I mean everything with no extra surprises. Will you marry me? But right this time?".

From where Yui and Saki were standing all they could see was Misato tackling Shinji over in a hug before they disappeared, rolling down the hill. They had heard every word between the two and merely hugged each other as they jumped up and down with glee, "It's about time he did it right." Yui said as she remembered just how quick their 'marriage' had been and it had left Shinji feeling down about doing right by Misato.

* * *

Yoshiko sighed as she looked over her husband's work. She had taken to looking over the files mainly out of interest over her time when she was stuck at their home, she enjoyed Shinji's company when they were out and about but she had decided that she was keeping him away from his family and would give him extra time off. Something that caught her eye was a request from a Japanese research section for advanced technology and a garrison of the newly formed Iron Guard, who were formed to suppress insurgencies, to be moved to the Hojo research lab.

Yoshiko grimaced at the thought of the sorry excuse for a man, his mind was first rate but at the expense of any sort of morals or compassion for anyone, he strove to better Japan's armed forces through strange experiments which she had questioned when she was in active service.

"Still experiment with demons and unknown forces Dr. Hojo? You're a fool." reading over the report she tossed it effortlessly back onto the pile, "I wouldn't be surprised if your experiments bring our great country to its knee's." she had seen two scientists had been moved into the lab quickly and under heavy guard but she had seen such things before and thought nothing of it. But it was the live test subject that had caught her attention, such a thing was a first for the lab to have it listed down on its reports to high command.

She looked through more reports and found nothing else on the test subject, no name, no description, she didn't know what to do about it. While she didn't have much pull in the research arm of the military she still had plenty of pull in the armed forces, even Kato didn't have much of a say in the labs, she would use all her connections to find as much information about the subject as possible.

She couldn't ignore what had happened two years ago in Shanghai, where the entire world had almost come to an end because of some old fool messing around with magic that he believed he could control, such magic should be laid to rest for good. Patting her stomach she smiled, soon she would have so much joy because of the new life growing inside her.

* * *

"Keith carry me!" Margarete whined from behind him, he was carrying both their bags and his families sword while she carried nothing. "We're nearly there my dear… deal with it.", "Meany." looking up ahead of them he saw the rooftops of the village, "Why does it have to be so far away? Why can't they live in the city?", "Because Shinji and Misato deserve peace after all the suffering they have endured. And this suits them perfectly." all he heard was her groaning as they walked up the path.

'Sometimes I wonder why I even try?' he thought, "Well, well if it isn't Mr and Mrs Valentine." looking up he saw Shinji waving from the top of the path, "I was wondering when you'd show up? What with everything that's been going on?", "You mean the events in Russia?", "Yeah. Margarete, good to see you." Shinji hugged the former spy and shook Keith's hand.

"Oh and Keith we've got a few extra guests, your little brother included." he watched as Keith's face became unreadable, "Oh really?" he handed his bags over to Shinji, "Excuse me for a moment." without another word he headed into the village with one hand on the hilt of his sword.

"What was that about?" Shinji asked Margarete who shrugged, "I think its something to do with his sword, I think he said something about it was hidden.", "So he's annoyed that Joachim had hidden it before he left?", "I think so.", "Come then. Lets head up to the house, Misato's up there but Yui's with Fuyutski in the city at the moment.".

"Are they well?", "Yeah. Misato's the same as she always is and my mother is still trying to make up lost time for when we were separated.", "She's a mother. She's meant to be like that." both laughed as they walked past the main square of the village just in time to hear Joachim scream in surprise before he burst out of the guest house he was staying in with the others with Keith in hot pursuit.

"Well things are back to normal." Shinji said as they carried on towards his house, "Should we stop Keith from chasing the big guy?", "Nah he'll be fine. He's… resilient to say the least.", "I'm sorry Keith!" they heard Joachim shout as they headed into the woods surrounding the village.

"Misato!" Shinji called out opening the door, "I'm back. Margarete and Keith are here." they heard the rapid sounds of footsteps before Misato barrelled down the stairs and dove onto Margarete in a hug, "I'm so glad to see you!", "Misato… Where's Arisu?", "Saki is looking after her. She's taken her for a walk through the woods.", "Well that won't be very peaceful, Keith's chasing his brother around the woods at the moment. Something about hiding a sword." Misato chuckled as she hugged Margarete, "Your looking great Margarete, come on lets talk." she dragged the former spy into the kitchen where Shinji knew they would be for the next hour at least.

He was about to walk upstairs to have a quick shower but was stopped when the door was slammed open by Kurando, who was bleeding from a gunshot wound to his side, "S-Shinji.", "Shit! What happened? Misato! Bring the first aid kit!", "They took her… I tried to stop them but… Blanca chased them and I don't know where…" Shinji carried him into the kitchen where both women looked surprise.

"Margarete go to the guest house and find Lucia, she's a healer bring her here." Margarete hurried out of the house as Shinji compressed the wound to stop it from bleeding, "You can't of walked all the way here?", "I had to… I need your help to get her back." Shinji didn't know whether hit him or not for being so stupid, travelling all that way with a bullet wound.

"We'll get her back… but your staying here." Margarete didn't take long to return with Lucia who went about healing Kurando's injuries, "I'm going to grab Yuri and head into the city, see if we can make somebody nervous." giving the young samurai a reassuring pat he headed out the house.

"Yuri! Saddle up!" he shouted as he saw the man relaxing in the shade of the guest house, "What's wrong?", "Kawashima's little sister has been kidnapped." flipping up off his back he was ready straight away, "We have to keep this small though, we have no idea where she's being held and we've got to find Blanca as well.", "I was wondering were he had wondered off to?".

"Asuka! Karin! Grab the old man and we're going!" Asuka and Karin took Gepetto out of the guest house and they were told about what was going on and they all agreed to help with it.

Arriving in main street they looked around for anything that would lead them to Blanca and Kawashima's sister, asking around they only got a general direction of where the car had gone, but knew it could of gone anywhere after that.

"Any idea what's in that direction?" Yuri asked Shinji, "If memory serves it's the docks, part of the navy fleet is docked there as well.", "Well that might be the best place to start.", "Really Yuri…" Asuka started but Shinji snapped his fingers, "That's it… Remember in Shanghai? Kawashima was being brought up on charges because of that idiot Major all to get at her father…", "So kidnapping her sister is just another way to do it?", "Guess so. Come on, my money is on Blanca being there." together they headed for the docks.

* * *

Another chapter done. Hope people like it.


	14. Chap 14: Arisu and Three New Faces

Double update! My way of apologizing for the month long delay. These two chapters are a little shorter then the others i've posted but there are two of them. So enjoy.

* * *

Blanca sat by the entrance to the large battleship that he had arrived at. The men that had kidnapped the small girl had arrived shortly before he did and he decided to wait until the others arrived. With all the smells that would be inside the ship he would be hard pressed to find the girl while avoiding the guards, no he would wait until the others arrived before he moved.

He was thankful that the guards weren't paying attention to him or else he would have to run.

As the wind changed he picked up on a familiar scent approaching from the direction of the city, 'About time they showed up.' he thought as he went to meet them, "Blanca! There you are?" Yuri said walking up to make a fuss over the wolf, "Yuri… remember why we're out here?" Shinji said looking at the battleship, "Oh yeah. Blanca is that where the girl is?" the wolf barked once and nodded his head, "Alright. Lets go.".

"Wait your just going to charge in?" Karin asked sounding sceptical of Yuri's plan, "Well yeah… it's worked for us before hasn't it Shinji?", "Yeah remember the Welsh prison? That was rather fun." Shinji said smiling at the memory, "Yeah it was… until you brought the entire prison down around that old hag." Asuka and Karin looked at Shinji with mild shock. "Is that true Shinji…" Asuka asked, "Yeah…downside is that I had to walk back to London. Nearly got run over by a couple of horses…" Karin and Asuka looked at each other and had blank stares, they knew what he was talking about and decided not to mention that they were the riders.

"Alright we'll try it your way…" Karin sighed as Shinji and Yuri took centre stage and cracked their knuckles as they headed for the boarding plank for the battleship, "Give us a minute and follow us in. We'll clear the way." Shinji went first and was instantly spotted by one of the navy guards who tried to stop him but Shinji slammed him into the bulkhead before tossing him over the edge into the water. They weren't aiming to kill anyone just knock them out and get them out of the way.

* * *

Running along the deck they found an entrance down into the depths of the ship, but were stopped by another two guards coming out of a side door but Yuri kicked one down the stairs before Shinji head butted the second before knocking him out, "Come on! You three!" Asuka, Karin and Gepetto made their way up boarding plank.

Gepetto looked around the maze of corridors that made up the bulk of the ship, "Alright boys which way?" he asked looking at the two, "I have no idea. We'll be going around in circles before we figure out which way is up." Shinji mentioned Yuri to be quiet as they heard footsteps around the corner, "We'll ask…" he whispered as he jumped the marine that walked around the corner.

"Shut up!" he hissed as he covered his mouth to stop him from shouting out, "Where is the girl?" he shook his head franticly only for Asuka to point her sword at his neck and apply pressure, "Would you like to try that again?" she asked sweetly which made everyone get a shiver along their spines.

"Answer the girl…" Shinji pressed as he slowly moved his hand away, "Bottom deck, aft store room. Two guards at the top of the stairs and another three in the room. The girls in the back." Shinji smiled and patted him on the shoulder before punching him across the jaw, knocking him out cold. "That was easy wasn't it?" Gepetto said as they took off along the corridor making their way to the bottom deck.

"Doesn't matter we'll tear the ship apart if we have to." Shinji muttered as he pulled open the door in front of him, only for Yuri to dash past him and knocking another guard out by slamming him against the door, "Right Shinji." Yuri agreed.

Arriving in the bowls of the ship they saw the final small set of steps ahead of them which was indeed guarded by only two marines standing at attention, "Lets do this quick and quiet. We don't know what the guards inside will try and do.", "They have guns Yuri. We don't." Shinji whispered back trying to come up with a plan of action. Blanca looked around the corner before walking out into plain view of the guards and barked once to grab their attention, both guards headed for the wolf as he backed up as Yuri and Shinji walked out and grabbed the rifles out of their hands and clubbed them out cold.

They waited briefly to see if the guards came out of the storeroom when they didn't Shinji knocked on the door and stood to the side, as the slot in the door opened up, "Who's there?" a gruff voice demanded, Shinji grinned when he heard the lock on the doors being opened.

The barrel of an automatic weapon was poked through the gap and Shinji could hear the heavy footsteps of the owner behind it as he walked through the door, Shinji reached out and grabbed the barrel and rammed it back towards the owner, catching him in the gut and pushing him back.

Before the other two guards could react Yuri kicked the door open as Asuka and Karin rushed in past him with their swords drawn, "Don't move an inch!" Asuka demanded as she held her sword against the mans throat.

"Blanca. Gepetto. Get the girl." Shinji took the gun and slammed it up under the guards chin, sending him onto the guard in a heap, Blanca started to paw at the door behind the two guards, "Is she alone?" one nodded as Asuka pushed the sword harder against his throat, "Yes. She is, she's alone." Yuri helped Gepetto open the door which exposed a store room with a little girl sitting alone on a tied up bundle, "Princess?" Shinji said with a smile, "Shinji? Blanca!" the little girl rushed up to hug the wolf and one of Shinji's legs with joy.

"Princess?" Asuka asked, "Chinese… keep it to yourself the less people who know the better." he had only found out a couple of months after he had started working for Kawashima, it was clear that they had to gain enough trust between them before exposing him to the truth. Which had surprised him.

"Well lets her back to her father, before anymore guards show up." Karin suggested as they left the room, Shinji poked his head back in the room with a smile, "Try something like this again guys and I'll sink this ship with everyone in it. And that's before I tear your military apart." he gave them one final wave before leaving, shutting the door behind him.

Making there way out of the battleship they were surprised not to run into any more marines, the princess had asked about Kurando and Shinji was glad to tell her that he was fine, but just a little roughed up, he really didn't want to say he had been shot by the same people who had kidnapped her.

"Shall we head to the shop?" Gepetto asked looking over his shoulder just in case they were being followed, "No… we'll head for his residence, they wouldn't dare try and take her from there. It'd be like signing their own deaths.", "Lead the way then Shinji." hoisting the young princess onto his shoulders Shinji lead the way back to Kawashima's private residence.

* * *

After dropping Yoshiko's sister off at her fathers, who was overjoyed at her return, they headed back to the tram station and waited for the ride back to the village, Yoshiko had been as overjoyed has her father to see her little sister was back safe and sound and had hugged Shinji and Yuri much to their embarrassment. The sun was already setting by the time they reached the station. They found it surprising that they had taken most of the day to find her.

As the tram came to a stop they were surprised to see Keith walk out to greet them, "Hey Keith what brings you down here?", "Shinji… Saki was attacked while out on her walk with Arisu.", "Are they alright?", "Saki is fine, but… they took Arisu." Shinji's eyes widened in shock, and no body could find their voice.

"Who…?" Shinji said simply, "Japanese Special Forces… they wore metal armour with automatic weapons, that was Saki's description. But some wore simple dark brown uniforms." Shinji turned to go back into the city but was stopped by Yuri and Asuka, "Shinji wait a second. You have no idea what you could be walking into, and you know that getting yourself killed won't help Arisu." Yuri said for once being the voice of reason.

He could feel Shinji trembling with anger but didn't want to push him over the edge, he'd seen first hand what that could be like. "She's my daughter Yuri… I'm getting her back.", "Shinji…", "No!" he shouted, "I'm not going to abandon her! I'm not going to be like him! I won't turn into Gendo!" he seethed looking at Asuka, "I'm going…" he didn't get to finish as Keith hit him hard over the back of the head, seemingly knocking him out.

"I hope you can forgive me for that Shinji… Come on lets get him home and maybe we can figure out a plan of action." Yuri and Keith dragged Shinji into the tram but didn't see his AT field expand until it was to late, he catapulted himself out of the tram just as the doors closed and took off into the city, running faster then the others had thought possible.

"Shit! Shinji stop!" Yuri shouted out the window as they pulled away, "Red. Go and tell the driver to stop!" Keith stepped forward as Yuri talked to Asuka and pried the doors open with his sword, "No time to stop Yuri, we'll have to jump." Yuri turned to the others, "We'll stop Shinji from doing something stupid, you tell everyone else what we're doing. Blanca will you be able to pick up our scent?" the wolf barked boldly as Yuri and Keith took one last look at the group before jumping out the tram.

"What has the army done?" Gepetto wondered, "Do you know what Shinji is?" Asuka asked him, "No… apart from he's not entirely human, much like Yuri.", "He's part human and part Angel. In his case he's from Lilith's side and not Adams. It's a long story." she said when she saw the old mans confused expression.

"We we're fighting a war we really didn't know all that much about…forced to be adults when we weren't meant to be…" Asuka said looking down at her hands, "Lets just make sure they all come back in once piece." Karin said trying a reassure her, "But I just hope that the rest of the army makes it out in one piece, Shinji strikes me as the sort to go through hell for his family.", "He's already seen it Gepetto, he'll make light work of it.".

* * *

Shinji ran through the streets, keeping to the back streets as much as possible, he didn't have much of an idea of where he was going only that he'd known when Arisu was close. He'd know that Yuri would be hot on his heels before the tram even got to the village station, sure he could use the help but he wasn't going to sit back and wait when someone has his daughter.

He headed for the nearest Army building he could remember which was some sort of research or filing building, but it was a good start for him, "I'll get you back Arisu…" he promised as he saw the rooftop of the building in the distance, "I'll beat anyone who gets in my way.".

Reaching the building he was about to charge through the front door when a pair of hands pulled him back into the alley he was hiding in, "Are you bloody insane!?" Yuri hissed as he and Keith pinned him to the wall, "Do you see the soldiers Shinji? Their not the usual type, they are highly trained and well equipped." Keith said keeping his composure.

"I don't care… I'm not going to just leave my daughter alone." he tried to struggle against Yuri but he held firm, "We're not asking you to! We're your friends, and what do friends do?" he looked at Keith then back at Shinji, "We look out for each other. You came all the way from Japan to Europe to find me, knowing it could of put your relationship with Misato in trouble. Knowing you did that for me meant a hell of a lot Shinji and I can't thank you enough for it, but I can help you with this." Yuri let him go as he looked into his eyes.

"It's not your fight Yuri… You've got your own path you want to follow.", "Yeah I know, but do you think I'd ever be able to look at Alice again if I walked away now?" he felt Shinji relax as Keith let him go as well, "We'll do this together Shinji… it'll be just like old times.", "I believe it was only two years ago Yuri." Keith said correcting him with a smirk.

"Funny… Shinji we'll help you do this." Yuri turned to the gate and grinned, "Shall we go then?" Keith drew his sword and took the lead, causing the two guards to aim their weapons at him, "Excuse me but we're looking for a young girl who was kidnapped. Maybe you could help?" the two guards eyed him and the sword, the way Keith was holding that was like that of an expert and gave them cause to think about their next action.

"There are no children here. Now leave!" one guard said pointing his weapon at Keith, which was quickly sliced off as Yuri and Shinji rushed forward and took out the other one as Keith slammed the pommel of his sword into the other mans face, "What do you think? She's here?", "Must be with the way they reacted." Yuri said to Keith, "Or they just don't like us." Shinji said with a grim smile as he kicked in the doors.

"Guards!" a scientist shouted as disappeared behind a door as a dozen of brown clothed guards with clubs came running out of nearly every door ahead of them, but all Shinji saw were valid targets as he started swinging.

Several guards were heaved into a table as Shinji swung another guard around into them, "Get out of my way!" he screamed as Yuri and Keith hung back as they watched Shinji go on his rampage, "Should we try and slow him down?" Keith asked as they watched his back. "I wouldn't try it…" Yuri shook his head as they watched him throw another guard straight through a door, "Shinji! We've got to keep moving!" Yuri warned him as he thought about more guards arriving.

Swinging the last guard through a nearby door he turned to Yuri and Keith with a satisfied smile on his face, "That felt good." Yuri was about say something when he reached out and grabbed a scientist which tried to run past them, pinning him to the wall he gave him a friendly smile.

"Where's the girl?" he demanded, "Downstairs, in the labs. Go through the door over there. Just let me go please." Yuri paused and let the man drop and nodded to the door, "Get lost." the man ran off without breaking a step as Shinji walked over to the door and ripped it apart with his A.T field, "An elevator?".

* * *

The elevator descended several floors and stopped exposing a number of corridors leading away from a central lobby, "Now which way?" Yuri asked as the sirens started blaring away alerting everyone that they had broken in, "This way." Shinji said stepping out, "Your sure?", "I can feel her now Keith. She's that way." Keith nodded in understanding as Shinji led them down the corridor to their right.

It was clear that they didn't know where they were as they hadn't run into any guards, to them the labs seemed deserted apart from one which was at the end of the corridor they had ended up in, "Don't move!" Shinji ordered to the single female scientist in the lab, "You lot really picked the wrong person to piss off. Now were is my daughter!?" he turned the woman around and stepped back in shock, "Dr. Akagi?".  
"Do I know you?" the now brunette Akagi asked, "I would hope so… given you dropped the fate of our world on my shoulders by dropping me in the seat of an Eva." Ritsuko's eyes widened as she realised who she was talking to, "Shinji?", "Yeah its me, now…" grabbing her lab coat he pinned her to the wall, "Where is my daughter!?" he spat.

"Shinji please…", "No. I know everything you and that bastard father of mine did, I'm sickened to even look at you! Where is she!?" she stopped struggling and pointed to a side room, "Through there. But there's something else Shinji…" he ignored her as he burst through the door she had pointed to.  
Seeing a small cot in front of him he saw Arisu laying awake wrapped up in blankets, "Arisu…" his feelings of anger dissolved as he gently picked her up and rocked her in his arms, "Daddy's here… Lets get you home." Arisu held out her arms to him as he walked back out to Yuri and Keith, "Ritsuko… believe me when I say if you try this again, I won't be restraining myself… I'll kill you if you ever harm my daughter again.".

"Shinji wait!" he paused out the door and looked back at her, "There is more going on in this lab then you know. So much more.", "Like I care." he shrugged, "I thought you cared for Rei." Shinji paused and turned to face her completely, "What?", "Rei is here. She arrived with me when we were swallowed by the Angel, I knew things weren't right between us but I tried to protect her, but he found us…".

"Who?", "Gendo…" Shinji froze before turning to Keith, "Can you get her to safety?", "Yes. Don't worry she'll be safe." Keith gently took Arisu into his arms and she giggled upon seeing one of his godparents, "They won't even see me Shinji, don't worry." Keith faded away until he was fully transparent, "Been a while since I saw you do that.", "It was when we first met I believe. I'll see you back at the village Shinji." they heard Keith's footsteps fade away and Shinji turned back to a shocked looking Ritsuko.

"He's a vampire… where is Rei?", "Shinji… he's trying to control her, she might not just follow you out." Yuri nudged Shinji, "I think it's time for a family reunion, you'll get to say everything you wanted to him." Shinji looked at him in confusion before realising what Yuri was getting at, "I see… Where's Gendo?".

Ritsuko thought carefully about her options, one the one had she could send Shinji and his friend into a trap or she could finally choose her own path without Gendo, without Rei, without anyone always looking over her shoulder. It was a no problem in her opinion.

"He's in one of the main labs, straight ahead when you leave the elevator. Just promise me something Shinji…", "What?", "Don't hold back." he gave her a small smirk and headed back out the lab, "Wasn't planning to." he headed back towards the elevator with Yuri following behind.

"Can she be trusted?", "Maybe not but if I can help her get out from under my fathers control once and for all then it'll be worth it.", "This Rei girl?", "Exactly." Yuri didn't ask anything further because he didn't need to, Shinji was like his brother and he trusted his judgement when it came to serious matters at least. When they reached the elevator they headed in the direction that Ritsuko had mentioned and saw it was only a few turns before they arrived at a metal door which Shinji knocked on loudly.

"Really? Do you have to do that every time?" Yuri whispered, "Yes." they watched the door open slightly as Shinji forced it open the rest of the way with his A.T field, "Hello!" he screamed with an insane grin which caused a few scientists to run away in terror from a table which held a single person.

Rei had changed a lot since Shinji had last seen her, she was now a young adult and had the same blue hair which was now past her shoulders and her skin was still pale as snow, "Is that her?", "Yeah. Rei… It's Shinji, can you hear me?" her eyes moved and opened to reveal her crimson eyes, "Rei…are you alright?", "Ikari-kun?", "I thought I told you to call me Shinji?" he said with a gentle smile, together they undid her bindings and carefully helped her sit upright, "What's happened to you?" he asked.

"I do not recall. The last thing I remember is talking with Dr. Akagi before someone injected something into me.", "Do you remember who it was?", "No but Dr. Akagi seemed to be afraid of him." Shinji could take a guess at who it was, "My father, have you seen him?" Rei pointed to the door behind her, "I think he left shortly before you arrived, all I heard were voices." Shinji hugged her tightly and took a moment to stare into her eyes, "I'm so glad your safe Rei, Yuri can you take her out of here?", "Shinji I'm not going to just leave you down here alone.", "I'll be fine but she needs to be out of here now!" Shinji stressed, "I'm going to see my father.".

Without waiting he took off through the door and was determined to track down Gendo but was surprised to see him waiting on a walkway, overlooking a experiment, looking down he saw the man called Nicolai strapped to some strange machine which reminded him of what Alice had been strapped to in Shanghai. "Gendo!" he shouted getting his attention, "Who are you?", "I'm not surprised you don't remember me, father. You always did look down on me and everyone around you." Gendo stopped leaning on the railing and turned to face Shinji, "Just who are you?", "Shinji Ikari, former pilot of Evangelion Unit One, and your former son." he smirked as he cracked his knuckles.

"I see…Why are you here?", "Well getting my daughter back, and getting Rei out from under your thumb." he ran forward and slammed his former father across the walkway with a vicious right hook, "What mother ever saw in you is beyond me! She said she would never forgive you!" Gendo blocked Shinji's next strike and countered which surprised Shinji.  
"I should tell you that I used to get into a lot of fights while I was dating your mother." it was the most he had ever said to Shinji and at the same time it was a challenge, "Well I hope you give me a good fight old man." he cracked his knuckles and got into a fighting stance, "I'm going to tell mother all about what you've done, she'll be so happy when I tell her that I beat you senseless!".

Gendo was taken back at the statement, "What do you mean, tell her?", "She's alive. Ever since the Angel swallowed everything, I've been meeting people from our world father, and you've been on the top of my list!" he slammed his fist across his fathers jaw before kicking him away, "You see I have a lot of anger to unleash!".

* * *

Yuri shifted his grip on the strange blue haired woman as he left the laboratory, she hadn't said a word since Shinji had left them and he could feel something off about her, "You alright?", "I'm fine." he grumbled as he carried her down a side street, knowing the trams wouldn't be running they would have to lay low for the night, and the only place he could think of that would be safe was Kawashima's residence. He just hoped that they wouldn't mind them staying the night, that and he hoped Shinji had the same idea.

"Are you a good friend of Shinji-kun?" she asked suddenly, "Yeah. We're like brothers almost, we've been through a lot together. Why do you ask?", "He's changed where I have not." Yuri didn't know what to say, mainly down to the fact that he barely knew Rei and Shinji hadn't really said much about her and he guessed that there wasn't much to actually say about her.

"Look Rei, Shinji has changed but that is because he had a choice, which you now have. So will you change?" making sure the path ahead was clear he helped her across the road and into the street which held the Kawashima residence, "I'm not sure how…" she said as Yuri reached the door which he quickly pounded on.

He was surprised when Kato opened the door, but was relieved, "Yuri? What are you doing here?", "Little problem, maybe I can explain it when I'm not so exposed?" Kato nodded and let them inside, "What's happened?" he asked once Yuri had helped Rei sit on the porch, "Where should I start?".

Yuri explained how Arisu had been kidnapped and how Shinji had gone off the deep end to get her back, encountering Rei and Dr. Akagi in the process before going off to fight his father. "You let him go off alone like that?" Kato asked clearly thinking that the whole thing was beyond stupid, "He wanted to Kato, and besides Rei's safe so I'll be back with Shinji in the a little while." nodding he got to his feet and ran back towards the labs.

* * *

Shinji was shocked, not only was he fighting his father but he was actually loosing ground on him, slowly. He hard managed to land a few good hits on his father but clearly his style of fighting wasn't able to match Gendo's. 'This is stupid! I've fought demons for almost three years and this bearded bastard is beating me!' he thought as he blocked another punch, "I see you talk to much." Gendo taunted as he advanced on Shinji and delivered a powerful uppercut, sending him sprawling across the floor before stamping down hard on his chest.

"I'll end it if you tell me where Yui is!?", "Fuck you asshole." Shinji grinned weakly as he expanded his A.T field sending Gendo back several meters, "W-what was that?", "An A.T field, and that's not the only thing I can do." he smiled as the wounds on his face began to heal, "I had wanted to make this a fair fight but now I think, why should I play fair when you never do?". Shinji reached out with his arm and was about to unleash a powerful strike with his A.T field but was stopped by something unexpected.

Neither man saw the two gunshots coming, but Shinji was surprised to see Gendo fall to the floor holding his leg, which now had two bloody holes in it. Looking behind him he saw Ritsuko standing there with a revolver, "I believe your right Shinji. Why should we play fair?" lowering the gun she turned to Shinji, "I'm going to walk my own path. Not his." she waved the gun in Gendo's direction who was busy cursing their actions, "Shinji I hope I can earn your forgiveness?", "Well this is certainly a good start." his healing abilities weren't able to heal everything as he didn't really know what was going to happen in the next few minutes either. "I'll let you live for now Gendo... at least I know where to find you now." Shinji said with a dark smile before turning to leave with Ritsuko.

While he was slightly unsteady on his feet he had to depend on Ritsuko to help him out of the lab but he slowly managed to walk on his own after reaching the elevator, "Never thought I'd see you again to be honest." Shinji said calming his breathing as they ascended to the ground floor, "I didn't think anyone else had come through, but is your mother actually alive or was that a trick to through him off?", "My mother is alive and living with Misato and I, along with our daughter, Arisu." Ritsuko looked surprised at the mention of Misato, "Before you ask I don't know how she'll react when we get back.".

Yuri pressed the button for the elevator repeatedly until the thing started to ascend, "About damn time." he was surprised to see Shinji looking back at him looking rather bruised, "What happened?" he asked taking Shinji's arm over his shoulder, "Ritsuko got a few choice shots off, Gendo will live but he won't be dancing anytime soon.", "Good to hear but lets get out of here. I saw a lot of army units heading in this direction." Ritsuko paused and looked back at the lab before following the two men out to safety.

"Where are we heading?" she asked as they made their way through the streets being careful to avoid any Japanese army units, "We're going to pick up Rei and then head home, but since the trams aren't running then we'll have to hike the way, should take no more then two hours or so.", "Two hours?", "Uphill. We're near a mountain." Ritsuko was already beginning to miss the lab but had made her decision.

* * *

Well there we have it Ritsuko and Rei have returned along with Gendo, and what I can say is that is all the people coming back for the time being. It also wont be the last time Shinji goe's toe to toe with Gendo but stay tuned and find out what happens.


	15. Chap 15: Family Reunion

Alright lets just say from now on that I'll try and get a chapter or two done each month. Bit of bad Karma for me at the moment though, one of my books I was writing needs to be rewritten completely, all two hundred pages of it and its not even finished yet. Reason why is that I don't feel it flows as well as my others. Oh well onto the chapter…

* * *

After picking up Rei they headed out of the city and towards the village, using the tram rails as their path. "Well it certainly is a nice night for a walk." Shinji said looking at the stars through the gap in the woods, "Reminds me of something…", "The night we met Alice on that train." Yuri didn't say anything at first but gave a small smile, "I wish I could go back to that night… and start things all over again.".

"We will find a way Yuri and besides, Roger is still figuring out that whole Moon Crystal thing. If it works then we can finally have what we all want, peace." Yuri playfully shoved him, "Your starting to sound like the old man.", "Hey he visited more then you did and he's nearly seventy.".

They laughed at the good times they had once had, they had almost forgotten about Rei and Ritsuko walking silently behind them, "Sorry about that, I guess your wondering what we're talking about?" Shinji asked, "I'm fine Shinji-kun." Rei answered as they walked along the rails, "It does sound rather interesting though." Ritsuko mentioned as she waved off a mosquito, "I'll tell you about it sometime, but lets just head on home. My family is waiting for me.".

"Are you and Misato…?" she shook her hand from side to side in an uneven gesture, "Yes. How do you think we got Arisu? Been together for nearly two years.", "Wow. I honestly didn't think she would be the type to settle down, she must of changed a lot?", "Not really… She's pretty much the same, just a little more toned down." Ritsuko shrugged, "Should of known.".

"Rei how have you been?" Shinji asked the blue haired woman walking just behind him, "I have been fine." Shinji looked at Ritsuko who shrugged, "I've tried." she said simply, "Rei, when we get back I want you to start saying what's on your mind. Can you do that?", "Yes… Why?" Shinji smiled to himself, "Because I would like you to start opening up to people, it would do you good. Oh…" he had a sudden thought which made him run his hands down his face.

"What?", "I'm wondering what's going to happen when Asuka see's us?", "Asuka's back?" Ritsuko asked, "Yeah. Fuyutski, Maya and the other bridge techs.", "Wow…" Ritsuko was surprised at the sudden revelation, "At least I won't be lonely…" she mumbled to herself as Yuri pulled out a small hipflask, "You still have that?", "Yup. Ever since China." he handed the flask back to Ritsuko, "You look like you could use one?".

Taking the flask she took a large mouthful and handed it back, "Rum… that's got a kick to it." Ritsuko said, "Rei?" Yuri offered but she declined, "I dislike alcohol or eating meat.", "Same as before then Rei? Here give me that." Shinji took the flask and took a mouthful before letting out a short but loud belch, "You certainly have changed Shinji.", "Had to after meeting up with him." he said jabbing a thumb at Yuri, "He got us into a lot of trouble so I had to stop second guessing myself and just go with it." Yuri snorted loudly, "As if you didn't mind.".

It did take them a little over two hours to reach the village by which time it was almost midnight, it was clear that Keith had made it back as Yui was waiting for them when they returned.

"Hey mom." Yui wrapped Shinji up in a tight hug, "I was so worried when they said you had left to find Arisu.", "I take it Keith made it back?", "Yes. Misato nearly tackled him down the hill when he arrived." Shinji pulled away and stepped aside, "I've got a few people who you might want to meet.".

"Ritsuko…" Yui said upon seeing her, "You look just like how I saw you all those years ago.", "It has been a while hasn't it?", "And this is Rei…" Shinji trailed off as he watched his mother wrap Rei up in a hug.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" she said as she wept onto Rei's shoulder, "Mom? What's going on?" Ritsuko waved Shinji off to one side as Yui looked Rei over, "Shinji… Putting this as bluntly as possible, Rei is your half sister." Shinji looked at Rei just before his eyes rolled up into his head before falling backwards into the dirt, "That could of gone better…" Yuri said as he looked down at the man he saw as a brother.

* * *

Yuri sat next down on a chair next to Shinji, who was still out cold on his and Misato's bed, the shock of finding out that Rei was his half-sister had been too much for him, Ritsuko was sitting in the corner slightly afraid of what might happen in the next few moments as Misato still didn't know that she was in the house, she was preoccupied with smothering her daughter with hugs and kisses after getting her back.

"I'm surprised he hasn't woken up yet…" Yui said checking her son's pulse, "I guess the shock was just too much to handle after confronting his father." she looked over at Ritsuko who looked a little sheepish, "I think he had a right to know! Besides he gave me his trust so quickly… I can't just turn on that.", "Good to hear Ritz." Misato said leaning in through the doorway, "I see my husband still knows how to bring out the best in some people.".

Ritsuko looked up surprised at her purple haired friend who had clearly left Arisu in capable hands, "While Saki is apologizing to Arisu… don't ask, I think it's a good time for me to do this." Misato pulled Ritsuko up off the chair she was on which caused some to skip a breath but they relaxed when she wrapped her up in a Misato hug, "I'm glad your back!".

"Misato…" Ritsuko struggled to get her breath back while in Misato's bear like grip, "Misato. Let her go, she can't breathe." Yui said as she sat back down next to Rei, "I've told you to control yourself while hugging others.", "Geez sorry Yui. My daughter gets kidnapped and I get her back, I get a sister in law and my best friend back all in one day, I think its allowed this time." she pouted as she let go of the former blonde.

"Yui I hope you can forgive me for having to shoot your husband…", "He is not my husband!" she said firmly, "He stopped being that after I was absorbed into unit one and abandoned my son." Yui turned her gaze to Rei and smiled softly, "As for you Rei, I'm sorry Gendo made you suffer like you did. I've always wanted a daughter… I hope you can forgive me.", "There is nothing to forgive. I was created after you were absorbed into Unit one, you had no hand in my life from that moment onwards." Rei had a look of surprise on her face when Yui hugged her, "But I wanted to. God how I wanted to. You're my daughter." she moved her back and looked into her crimson eyes, "You are Rei Ikari.", Rei felt moisture on her cheeks, reaching up to feel her face she felt tears, "Why am I crying?".

"Because your happy?" Yuri answered shrugging his shoulders, "Maybe you can wake your brother up?" he said looking at Shinji who was still out cold, "He's had worse then this, why isn't he waking up? I mean he went toe to toe with a god and fought him to a draw.", "Doesn't mean finding out he has a sister doesn't shock him." Ritsuko said, "And who's fault is that?" Yui said with a grin, "I've already explained my reasons, thank you." she said folding her arms.

"Do you mind I'm trying to sleep…" Shinji groaned as he came to, "Shinji your awake!" Misato said jumping on top of him, "You mister are in big trouble." she continued as she straddled him, "I'm in trouble for getting Arisu back? Alright how do you figure that one out?" poking him in the cheek she merely smiled, "Because I said so.", "Don't bother Shinji you won't win." Yuri quipped from the sidelines.

"What do you remember Shinji?" Yui asked, "That Rei is my sister… have to admit I didn't see that one coming but I'm happy with it.", "Says the guy who fainted." Yuri mumbled, "Will you shut up!? Your one to talk anyway! Nearly three years I've known you for and all you are is a walking magnet for trouble!", "Shinji…" Rei said breaking the argument between the two as she knelt down next the bed as Misato still straddled him.

"Is it acceptable that I'm now your sister?", "Of course it is. Rei, I've always cared about you and always tried to be your friend, is it alright that I'm your brother?" he asked hoping to get a decent answer out of her. Logically thinking about all her options she finally nodded, "It is acceptable." everyone tried not to sigh or at least roll their eyes, "Rei… you have to learn about opening up. Emotions. All that stuff that people have, and we'll be here right behind you." Misato said thumping her chest with pride as Shinji was unable to roll his eyes at her antics.

"As long as she doesn't learn too much from you." Shinji's comment kicked off another rant from the purple haired beauty as Ritsuko left the room mumbling something along the lines of 'she hasn't changed at all', "Alright enough." Yui said stopping the mini fight, "You'll wake the whole village up at this rate. Rei I think its time everyone got some sleep, you'll be sleeping in my room until we can figure something more permanent out. You two. Get some sleep." she sighed as she left the room with the others.

"I'm certainly looking forward to tomorrow." Shinji mumbled as he curled up next to Misato, "Why's that?", "Asuka doesn't know Rei's here.", "Just be nice. They never did see eye to eye… I'm going to grab Arisu, get ready for bed." Shinji moaned like a child as he sat back up and took off his coat to change into his sleep wear. Yes, he knew tomorrow would be very interesting, he felt Misato curl up again next to him as he fell into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

To say Gendo was angry would be an understatement, he had been shot in the leg not once but twice by the woman who was meant to be helping him pull the power out of the Russian they had acquired. The man wasn't human, not anymore, something had taken hold of his being and was extremely powerful and he wanted its power.

He had taken over from Dr. Hojo after the man had met with a small 'accident' inside the lab, no body could of known it was foul play after he had tampered with the fool's stupid robot cylinder, the result of which was an oversized buzz saw shredding the doctor into ribbons.

His wounds had been cleaned and dressed, not only the bullet wounds but the injuries he had suffered at the hands of his son who he had been truly surprised to see after all this time, in this world at least, he had thought the boy would of died in his first week with the monsters and demons in the world. But he knew even he could be wrong, and was surprised further when he began to match him in terms of skill with fighting, but had been shocked when the brat had used an A.T field on him.

"Is she really alive?" he thought aloud as he remembered him saying that Yui was still alive. He sat in his office in deep thought for hours, feeling at home, it wasn't until one of the iron soldiers walked in to give him the report after the other nights 'disruption'. "What is it?", "The report you asked for sir. Anything else?" Gendo was silent for a moment before grinning under his gloves, "Actually there is, I wish to find someone but I want it kept quiet.", "Who is it sir?", "Yui Ikari. I believe she lives in the village that the young girl was kidnapped from, that and she does visit the city often. Keep an eye out for her and report back when you find her." giving him a description of Yui from his memory he watched as the soldier left the room.

"Just a matter of time…" picking up another report he read through its contents, going into detail about the Russian Nicolai, the report stated that he was possessed by the demon god Astaroth. Gendo had heightened security twice since the Russian arrived and had developed a number of automated defence robots that were programmed stop the man from ever leaving.

He was planning to use Astaroths power to realise his dreams, no matter what.

* * *

When Shinji awoke he saw Misato had buried his face partially into her breasts, which he was tempted to stay and admire but they were both awoken by Asuka clearly shouting from halfway to the village, "Is that Asuka?" Misato mumbled, her eyes barely opening, "Sounds like it… told you today would be interesting." Shinji chuckled as she weakly punched him in the gut, "Sort it out I'm sleeping." reserving Shinji to his fate she rolled over.

"Alright…" Shinji changed into his village working clothes and headed out of the house, seeing his mothers room was empty, he made sure not to make any noise as he left the house.

Taking a brief moment he took in the crisp morning air before making his way down the hill to the village, meeting Zhuzhen on the way, "You still here old man?", "Yes, problem?" he chuckled, he was busy enjoying his morning tea as he sat outside Takeshi's house, "Which way are the trouble makers?" sipping his tea he nodded his head towards the guest house which made Shinji sigh loudly.

"Great. It's going to be a mess in there isn't it?", "No doubt." ignoring the mans amazing words of encouragement as he walked over to the doors leading to the guest house, he could already hear the commotion inside, mainly from Asuka by the sounds of it, "I swear it better not be like this when Arisu is older…" he mumbled as he all but kicked the doors open.

"What the hell is wrong with everyone!?" he growled as he walked in, "This is meant to be a peaceful village! Not the start of a riot!" everyone was there including Keith, Margarete, Yui and Rei who were sitting around a hearth drinking some Miso soup, "We're sorry Shinji-kun, I took Rei for a walk around the village to show her where everything is and, well I guess we got sidetracked." Yui explained, "That's an understatement mother. I could hear you all from up in the house and you woke us up.". He heard Yuri and Margarete snort and try not to laugh loudly, "Shut up you two. I know what your thinking.", "You were asleep in your favourite spot weren't you?" Margarete teased as Keith mentioned for her to stop, "Yes! I was enjoying it as well! Asuka what is the problem with the volume? You can be heard all over the village!" Shinji said looking at the red head who shot up to her feet, "Excuse me but when were going to tell me that Rei had come back along with Ritsuko!?".

"I was planning on telling you after I had woken up. If you don't know, I didn't get back until after midnight and it's…" Shinji pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time, "Just after six. So here you go, enjoy.", "And what's this about you fighting your father?", "I didn't fight my father, I fought Gendo. Big difference." Shinji explained, wanting this conversation to end so he could go back to sleep, but the time ticking away made that less and less likely.

Today was his training day with Kurando and it was tiring enough without his seemingly wasted efforts to try and get him to mellow out but it was like pulling teeth, he just hoped he could knock some sense into him before they headed into the city. Kawashima-san had asked him to visit the foreigners cemetery to lay some flowers for a family friend, he was stuck at home with a bad back so Shinji and Kurando volunteered to do it for him.

"Asuka please…" Ritsuko started to say but was shot down by the glare Asuka gave her, "You don't get to talk yet. Listen Shinji everyone is suddenly popping up all over the place, how long till Hikari and the two other stooges turn up?", "I don't know! But if they're even in Japan Asuka, we'll find them. Count on it!" slowly he turned to everyone else, and let out a long sigh.

"I've got a longish day ahead as Kurando is almost ready to get back to work.", "What!? He's only been out a few hours!", "He's related to Yuri so must be as resilient. Now if you don't mind I have to go wake up sleeping beauty, keep it down from on.", "Shinji-kun may I join you?" Rei asked, "Sure. Might as well start acting like a brother now rather then later." Shinji hadn't been told that Asuka didn't know about Rei being his brother, a point made clear when she screamed 'what?' at the top of her lungs again.

After another ten minutes of trying to calm Asuka down he just gave up, grabbed Rei and pulled her out of the house and slammed the door behind them. "Sometimes it's just not worth getting out of bed for this crap.", "How is your relationship with Miss Katsuragi progressing?" Rei asked only to have her brother sigh, "Rei… Misato is your sister-in-law, you don't have to be formal with her.".

"I… understand… this is all quite strange.", "Well from what Ritsuko told me that medication you were on suppressed your emotions almost completely, and I'm guessing its going to take a while for them to come back to the surface." they started heading back towards the house where he hoped Misato was going to be awake, "And I hope you decide to stick around for a while Rei, you're an aunty now as well.", "Why? Am I going somewhere?".

"No, Rei. Your life is your own now, you can do whatever you want with it. Your free from Gendo's influence." Rei didn't know how to reply to that, she hadn't been able to converse with many others since her arrival in this world apart from Dr. Akagi and she had been distant at the best of times, "Rei? Are you alright?" Shinji asked when he saw her seemingly space out.

She had been alone for years even before coming here, she had been aware of everything people were doing to her and how she was being treated but was never able to control her own actions without asking for permission first, it sickened her that she was called a doll, a robot, a tool. She was always aware of her actions even though it felt like someone else was controlling her, she had the painful memories of remembering how she died, she never wanted to be anywhere near NERV or Gendo because of that pain.

She felt heat rise in her face and felt the tears begin to fall from her eyes, "Rei?…", "I never wanted to be a pilot! I didn't want to die!" she screamed as she broke into tears, finding comfort in Shinji's arms as he hugged her.

"Rei… it'll be alright. You've got your family around you and we'll be here to help you. I promise you.", "I'm not used to this… Shinji-kun, this all feels strange to me…", "Your crying Rei, I think I've only seen you cry once." he felt her sobs begin to fade and moved her back and looked into her eyes, which were puffy and red, "I'm not going to go anywhere Rei, if you need anything then just say…. Tell you what how about you spend the day with Misato and Saki? They'll be able to help you with this, better then me anyway, and you can spend some time with Arisu.".

While she was still crying slightly she managed to smile at her brother, "I would like that very much.", "Great… now your going to see what I do to Kurando. He's actually like you but more… well he's just dense.", "How?" she asked wiping away a tear, "He's just so dense to what's in front of him. And he's meant to be a bodyguard." Rei smiled softly as Shinji continued to rant back towards the house.

After finding out from Saki that his wounds had healed Shinji crept into the guest room and flipped the mattress over with Kurando on it, "Wake up! Its time for the Ikari Challenge!" he shouted, "Time to put you through the wringer again young samurai!" these were the days that Shinji really enjoyed, and it was something he could be smug about as Kurando had yet to actually hit him with his sword.

"Shinji… What are you doing?" he asked sleepily from under the mattress, "It's training day and we've got an errand to run as well for your boss. So get your butt moving." he poked his head of grey hair out and lay eyes on Rei for the first time and blushed, 'Oh you are kidding me…' he groaned, 'I swear if he tries anything I'll… where the hell did that come from?' he thought, "Kurando… This is my sister Rei Ikari. Rei this is Kurando, the dense swordsman I was telling you about.".

He could of sworn he heard Saki's laugh from somewhere but dismissed it as he hauled the boy to his feet, "Come on lets go." he asked Rei if she could wake up Misato while he trained with Kurando before they met up for breakfast.

Once outside and heading towards their training area he leant in close to make sure no one else would hear what he was going to say, even he didn't think about what he was going to say and just winged it. "Kurando, Rei is my sister and I don't want you trying anything that could result in a permanent injury.", "What do you mean?", "I saw how you looked at her, it's the same look Yuri used to give a bowl of ramen after not eating for two or three days. Do anything stupid and I'll shove that sword of yours, scabbard and all somewhere where the sun doesn't shine.". Kurando couldn't tell if Shinji was joking but after seeing his abilities first hand he wasn't about to push his luck.

While he did stare at Rei it was only to take in her elegant beauty, she had never seen someone like Rei before and the attraction was something he couldn't explain, and he guessed that it was something that he shouldn't voice to Shinji in case he would carry out his warning.

* * *

Rei walked through the hall towards the sound of snoring that Shinji had told her follow, looking into their bedroom she saw the former Major asleep or rather stretched out over both sides of the bed, her stomach was showing as she rubbed it. "Miss…Misato, Shinji-kun asked me to wake you." as she got closer she let out a tired moan as she rolled over to face Rei, "Misato…!" Rei was taken by surprise as Misato reached out and grabbed her, pulling her face into her chest, "Shinji-kun… my Shinji-kun." she groaned as Rei tried to free herself from her iron grip.

Finally able to move her head away she called out for Misato while shaking her, "Misato!" she called out, "Rei…?" she moaned sleepily as her eyes opened, "What are you doing in my bed?". Trying to compose herself she got to her feet, "I was trying to wake you up, but you pulled me against you mistaking me for Shinji-kun.", "You both have the same sort of face…" Misato pulled herself up and out of bed knowing that Shinji wouldn't be coming since it was their training day.

"So what beings you up here?" Misato asked as she got dressed, "Shinji-kun said that you might be able to help me with my forthcoming emotions.", "How exactly?" Misato asked confused as she put on a shirt, "He didn't say, only that you and Miss Saki would be able to help me 'open up'" Misato groaned as she walked over to Arisu's cot, "And how's my little girl today?" Shinji had said that Misato and Arisu were on the same wavelength as they seemed to sleep for the same amount of time, something that Shinji was thankful for as he didn't have to wake up to change any diapers.

"She does resemble you and Shinji…" Rei held herself as her memories surfaced about her own body, "Rei? Is something wrong?" Misato asked as she noticed the sad look on Rei's face, "I-I cannot have children. The way I was made… leaves me unable to bare children.", "Rei… I'm so sorry to hear that, I didn't know." Rei shook her head, "It's something I've learnt live with.".

"Still Rei… I feel bad standing here like this…" Misato said, now wide awake after the new revelation, "It's fine Misato… I always can have hope that I'm wrong… I would like to bring a child into this world." Misato looked down at Arisu and got an idea. "Arisu, say hello to your aunty Rei." she smiled warmly as she handed her over to Rei who gingerly took hold of her. Both were surprised to find that Arisu didn't fidget or cry but just gazed up at her.

"Wow. Your holding her better then I did for the first time… You look so… perfect like that Rei." Rei walked over to the window with Arisu in her arms and looked out over the village, "I'm home…".

Misato decided that she would have to have a little chat with Ritsuko and see if there was any chance that Rei would be able to actually bare children like she wanted, 'I think she's going to be fine Shinji… that was smart sending her to me, to see Arisu…' Shinji had said to her that Arisu was a shining light to bring out the best in anyone because she was so cute.

* * *

Kurando was panting heavily as he glared at Shinji who was looking back at him with a smug expression. "So what's that now? Nearly a hundred strikes and every one deflected." Shinji wagged his finger at him, "Not looking so good for you is it?", "That A.T field of yours is a powerful force… I don't see how you expect a mere sword to beat it?", "Just keep trying." Shinji said as he paced back and forth in front of him, waiting for him to make his next attack.

Kurando took several steps back before gripping his blade with both hands, Shinji thought he knew what he was aiming for, he would charge and faint at the last possible moment but he couldn't be sure. He watched the blade as he got closer, he was ready to throw his field up at the last possible moment but realised that he had already changed direction and had begun his jump into the air to perform an overhead strike.

'Shit.' Shinji saw it was close as he reached up and grabbed Kurando's hands and fell backwards into a roll before kicking him away, "Damn it…" the swordsman groaned as he got to his feet, "Alright we'll call it a day for now. That last move was good, I admit you nearly got me there.", "I'll get you someday.", "Keep that train of thought and you will. Come on its breakfast time and I need to make sure you don't eye up my sister.".

He was hard pressed to catch Shinji up as had spaced out on the training ground, he didn't even noticed that Shinji had left him standing there until he had shouted at him from the end of the path. "Sorry Shinji… don't know what happened there?", "Don't worry just don't do it at the table or when we go to the cemetery.", "I won't. I'd never do such a thing?" Shinji merely gave him a sideways glance as they reached the house, "I really want some more time off, I've been really busy haven't I?" he said walking through the front door.

"Shinji is that you?", "Yeah. Kurando too. Don't worry Saki I haven't injured your son." he called out as they entered the kitchen to see Yui serving up the food, "Oh Shinji, Yuri and everyone wants to go with you when you visit the cemetery." Yui said as she served up the Miso, "Hopefully we can go a day without trouble following him." Shinji grumbled after he had kissed Misato and Arisu good morning.

After eating Kurando and Shinji started heading down to the tram station and where joined by Yuri, Asuka, Karin, Blanca, Lucia and Anastasia. "I thought your sister would be joining us Shinji?" Yuri said with a small grin, "She's spending the day with Misato and my mother catching up while I do this." he smacked him on the arm as they boarded the tram, "So just where are we heading anyway?" he asked as he rubbed his arm.

Shinji turned sombre as he looked over at Yuri, "Remember Shanghai? That Lt. Suketani who helped us out?", "Oh yeah… I would of thought he was buried in the military cemetery or something?", "Turns out he was part Chinese so he was buried in the foreigners cemetery but with military honours." Shinji and Yuri both remembered how Kato had told them that a ignorant major had executed the Lieutenant when he had tried to protect Yoshiko.

They talked among themselves while they waited for the tram to arrive at the cemetery, thankfully there was a tram station just outside so they wouldn't have to walk far, Shinji had done enough of that over the last few days, "Why are you lot with us again? We're going to be an hour tops." Shinji asked everyone who merely shrugged and gave weak excuses.

* * *

Well he's the next one hope you liked it.


	16. Chap 16: Grave Times

To best honest i'm surprised I had the energy to upload this. Working the weekend was draining, and then today I had to demolish a wooden shed which didnt want to go down. But here's the next one. Hoping to get the next one up towards the end of the month.

* * *

Arriving at the cemetery they found it was empty, but it was Shinji and Blanca that stopped first. "What's wrong?" Asuka asked, "Don't know… but I think the wolf and I can sense the same thing…" Shinji looked ahead and saw only the cemetery but there was something ahead of them and he couldn't tell what it was.

Together they moved forward and watched as a white mist enveloped them and the cemetery, "What the hell is this?" he heard Yuri shout as they're visibility dropped to zero, "Where the hell is everyone? I can't see a damn thing!" Asuka shouted acting as a beacon for Shinji's ears, "Nobody move!" Shinji shouted, "Or we'll just spend hours walking around in circles!" he nearly let out a scream of panic when he felt a wet nose touch is hand.

"Blanca… Can you sniff them out?" the wolf barked once but the visibility began to return but they found themselves no longer in the cemetery but on some sort of stone pathway, he could see Kurando was in the centre and looking rather unwell, "Kurando? You alright?" Shinji asked as he walked towards the young swordsman, "No…Something is wrong…" gripping his chest he fell to one knee in pain, "Arggghh!" Shinji went to touch his shoulder but was sent sprawling back when Kurando erupted into a bright white light, which both Shinji and Yuri recognised.

"Fusion?" Yuri asked but saw Kurando's form change straight into something different, without dissolving first like Yuri did, "Something different I think…" Shinji said as Kurando's new form appeared clearly.

The new form was an unsexed pale yellow, almost white skin, two horn like growths protruded from its head and swept back behind it like hair with a pair of red eyes staring back at them as if waiting for them to make a move. But it was the large halo like hoop that it seemed to carry around it, "I'm guessing that's its weapon?" Asuka asked slowly drawing her sword, "What do we do?" Anastasia asked worrying about her crush, "I don't know…" Shinji didn't know what was happening to Kurando so he didn't exactly want to beat him senseless unless he had to.

They found that Kurando's speed was much faster then it usually was as Shinji found out when the halo slammed into his chest, sending him back and rolling along the floor, "Shinji!" Asuka was about to run over to him but he called out for her to stop, "Watch yourself! Stay on defence!" pulling himself to his feet he expanded his A.T field to give him enough room to breathe and deflect any blows against anyone nearby.

Before Shinji could warn Yuri to watch himself he saw him dive at Kurando and unleash a flurry of blows only to be smacked away into Shinji's A.T field.

"You alright?", "Yeah… oh crap that hurts…" Yuri groaned rolling onto his knees, "I'd forgotten what hitting that damn thing felt like.", "Sorry. You lot alright?" Shinji called out to the girls who were gathered on the other side of Kurando. Asuka and Karin were in front of Anastasia and Lucia while Blanca was standing next to him and Yuri.

The halo flew at him again and he was forced backwards when the halo impacted his barrier, however it didn't return to Kurando and continued to push against his A.T field, "I don't think he likes me anymore." Shinji said through gritted teeth as he struggled to keep himself steady.

Asuka and Karin darted forwards to attack with their swords and only were able to inflict minor damage to the demon form, Lucia cast an ice spell which shot along the ground before making a large icicle shoot out the ground forcing him away and breaking off the attack on Shinji. Seeing his chance he forced out his A.T field into a cannonball, which he hadn't done in almost a year, the resulting effect was the almost bone breaking attack sending Kurando to the ground several meters away from them, "Yuri now!" Yuri rushed forward and unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks onto the fallen demon trying to force him to change back.

Forcing Yuri away he got to his feet only for Yuri to deliver a powerful uppercut which snapped Kurando's head back and back onto the ground, and not get back up. "Did that do it?" he asked as he stood over his still form, "Hope so… that was a powerful form." their question was asked when the white light returned and Kurando changed back into his human form, "Good." walking over to him, Shinji knelt down and flicked him between the eyes, which woke him up.

"Care to explain?" Shinji said with a small grin, "I don't know…I'd never knew I had such an ability…" Shinji looked at Yuri who saw he was looking rather sheepish, "What is it?", "Well… Since we're related that could mean he has his own fusion abilities right?" Shinji thought about it for a moment before nodding, "Guess there is a brain in there after all.".

Getting to his feet he let Blanca and Anastasia make a fuss over Kurando, mainly Anastasia, "Hey Lucia, nice save with the ice magic. If that hadn't knocked him off balance he could of caused us a few problems." Shinji said thanking the fortune teller who blushed slightly over the praise, "T-thank you Shinji." Asuka lightly smacked him around the back of the head, "What was that for?" he asked, "Your already married. Remember?".

"I know, I'm just saying thank you that's all.", "Just make sure that's all, baka." she smirked as she walked over to Karin, "Just where are we anyway?" Yuri asked, "Don't know but I don't think Kurando had anything to do with this, I think this triggered his transformation." Shinji looked around and saw a path through the mist had opened and ahead he could see a torii gate, and knew that there wasn't any within the cemetery or anywhere near it.

"Heads up." helping Kurando to his feet Yuri saw the gate, "Shinji… Do you think this is like that village in China?", "The one where people could enter but not leave? I'm starting to get that feeling.", "What do you mean?" Lucia asked, "Well we're free to enter wherever this is, but we can't leave until we've defeated whatever is that's trapped us here, but I doubt just following the path is going to be the easy way to find it.".

Following the path along through the torii they found themselves standing on a stone platform with two bridges leading away from it ahead of them with a small table with candles sitting between the two gates, around them seemed to be a sheer drop but ahead they could see a large temple which seemed to be the ideal place to head too seeing how there was no other way but forward.

"Which way shall we go?" Karin asked, "Left." Shinji headed through the left gate and somehow found himself behind the others, "You have got to be shitting me?" everyone looked back at him with the same confused look on their faces, "So we're standing in a maze, wonderful." walking through the right gate with a red symbol hanging over them they found themselves on a different platform and slightly closer to the temple.

"Alright I'm going to say that we've got to go through the right gate or we'll end up back at the beginning like I did…" Shinji trailed off as he heard the sound of scuffles around them, "And its sounds like we've got demons as well." on cue small brown skinned demons scurried up over the edges of the platform, a single horn spouting from their foreheads with a white furry skirt, "Just great." he heard Yuri sigh as the fighting started.

* * *

Veronica couldn't believe she had slept through so much action over the last two days, first Shinji's boss had his daughter kidnapped, and then his own daughter had been kidnapped only for him to go and fight through Japanese special forces to get her back and fighting his own father.

"Well it looks like I missed out didn't I?" she asked herself as she sat down in Shinji's kitchen by herself, or so she thought, "Its always interesting with Yuri and Shinji around." looking around she saw the tall blonde European man who had arrived the other day with a gentle smile on his face as he sat down with a cup of tea, "When I was travelling with them a few years ago it was rather enjoyable, but I treasured my time with Margarete just as much.", "And that is…?", Oh, my wife. We've travelled around the world together but sadly I was called back home just as things we're beginning to progress.".

"Why are all the good men taken?" she sighed as she slumped back into her chair, "First Yuri, then Shinji and now you.", "Who said it needed to be a man?" Keith said with a straight face as he sipped his tea, "I won't lie handsome, I am flexible but…" she trailed off when she couldn't actually think of a reply. "I think you got your answer Miss Vera.", "Your an intelligent fellow aren't you?", "About four hundred years worth of knowledge." he smirked as Margarete entered the kitchen and it was then that Keith looked at the similarities between the two women.

"Oh god they were right." he groaned finishing off his tea and leaving as silently as he had arrived, "What was that about?" Margarete asked as she sat down, "I have no idea but I can say that your lucky to have him." Veronica said as Misato, Rei and Yui walked in.

"Awake now Margarete?", "Yes. I sleep better now I don't have to put up with you snoring. Honestly don't know how Shinji does it.", "I think his hearing is muffled because of where his head ends up." Misato said with a cheeky smile as she sat down, "Veronica-san. If you don't have any plans would you like to join us? We're having a girls day out in the city." Veronica could of said no but she decided she might as well join them, "Sure. I could do with a walk about, saves me getting lazy. Mind if I take this along? Feel naked without it after I've lost my magic." she said tapping the whip at her side.

"Don't see why not?" Yui said with a shrug, "Oh I haven't introduced you yet. This is my daughter Rei." Veronica had seen her walking about the village and had thought she was a strange looking girl but she held a exotic beauty to her, but she was also quiet and soft spoken from what she had actually said as it wasn't a lot.

"Pleasure to meet you Veronica-san." Rei gave a little bow to her from her chair, "Please… Don't be formal with me, its something I'm trying to distance myself from. The fewer connections to my former life the better.", "Understood." Veronica suddenly had the feeling that talking with a brick would be better.

"Okay…" she said trailing off as she continued to try and figure out a why Rei was staring at her, "When shall we leave?", "As soon as Saki gets here. We'll be having lunch with Maya and the others in town.".

* * *

As they left the village Veronica could see the handgun under Misato's coat , she knew Yui and Saki were unarmed but there was a feeling that there was more to Rei that met the eye. "Alright so what's the first place we're heading to?" Misato chirped as they headed down the forest path towards the tram station, "Clothes of course." Saki said smiling, "Then food then whatever else we can think of.".

"This coming from the woman who can look into the future." Misato said trying not to laugh out loud at the woman, "Wait…Aren't we forgetting someone?" Yui asked as she stopped, "No… who?" Misato said as Ritsuko's voice boomed from behind them, "I can't believe you left without me!?" Misato bursting into laughter didn't make her mistake any better.

"Misato! I thought you were going to wake her up?" Yui asked her friend, "I forgot… Spending time with my daughter seemed more important." Ritsuko came to a stop behind them, having ditched her lab coat for her usual clothing underneath, "I can't believe you left without me? I thought we agreed on when to meet?", "Shouldn't of fallen asleep then should you then?", "Says the snoring wood chipper!" the scientist shouted back.

"Can we please go!?" Veronica said clearing the air, "I've been wearing the same clothes for almost five days and really need to lighten my purse.", "I agree with the lady." Saki declared causing everyone to look at her, "You have more clothes then I do." Yui said, Misato nodded at the village chief with a look like the cat that got the canary.

"Fine, lets go before we miss the tram." Saki said eagerly starting back along the path as she tried to ignore the chuckles behind her.

* * *

They arrived in the city and spent a number of hours shopping, but Misato and Veronica were the ones who noticed something was wrong, there was the feeling that they were being followed but they couldn't see by who. "Your getting that feeling too?" Veronica asked Misato as they walked side by side, "You haven't taken your hand away from your gun for ten minutes.", "Can't help it. We're being followed but I can't see where from.", "Well we'll find out once they decide to show themselves." Veronica said almost smirking with delight at the prospect of getting into a fight.

But ahead they both saw three heavily built men walk out into the middle of the street and stood talking, "Looks like we're about to find out." she shifted her whip into her hand which was hidden by a bag she was carrying, while Misato moved her gun into one of her bags so she could just whip it out instead of moving her clothing about to reach it.

"Yui Ikari?" one asked in a rude manner, "Your coming with us.", "W-why should I?" she asked moving backwards away from the man, "Someone wants to talk to you." Ritsuko scoffed as she waved him away, "Go and tell Gendo to crawl back into the hole he came from." Yui looked at Ritsuko, "He's the only one to do something so stupid. Targeting you so soon after his run in with Shinji.", "Get lost bitch! This doesn't concern you!".

Veronica made a shook her head as she walked to the front of the group with Misato, "That is such a rude way to treat a lady, I'm sorry boys but I'm going to have to punish you." unfurling her whip with a flick of her wrist she gave her hips a little wiggle to entice the three brutes. "That's right, those are my friends your talking too, so your going to get one chance to leave." Misato said as she drew her gun and aimed it at the closest man, "Before I shoot you." Misato took a shooters stance which made passers by move away from the fight.

"You have one last chance to…" the man didn't get to finish as Veronica's whip wrapped around his neck, "Bad boy! Let a lady finish before you start." everyone shuddered at how dirty it sounded coming from the woman, "You bitch!" the second shouted after realising what was going on he charged Veronica, who in turn charged at him using the whip to trip him up at the last moment.

The third charged Misato who was looking at Veronica and just managed to dodge out the way at the last minute and shoot the man in the foot before slamming the pistol grip across his jaw, "Get lost!" the man didn't hang about as he quickly hopped off not wanting to push his luck. "Need a hand?" Misato asked as she watched Veronica effectively subdue both men with her whip as she dug the heel of her boot into the mans hand on the floor as the one with the whip around his neck was now on his knees trying to pry the whip off.

"That's alright I've got it." she said knocking both men out, "I can't believe they tried something like that in daylight." Yui thought aloud, "What if this is just the beginning? Who knows what he'll try next?" Misato started to calm Yui down as she began to have a panic attack, "Calm down! He wouldn't dare try anything again with us here, right?" she asked trying to drum up some support, "He's just… I mean…Why is this happening to me?" Yui tried to calm her breathing but was failing, "Yui, I shot him, twice. He wouldn't be stupid enough to try it so quickly after Shinji fought him." Ritsuko said stepping in.

Calming down she began to think logically and knew Ritsuko was right, "Of course… right, I should of thought of that… yes, yes that's better." Yui started breathing normally again and let out a sigh, "It's been a long time since I had a panic attack.", "This coming from the former head of project E?" Ritsuko asked, "I doubt that.", "It's true. Before I joined NERV I had number of panic attacks, just ask Fuyutski.".

"You know I'm rather hungry now?" Misato said, "Misato… Gendo just tried to kidnap Yui, try to focus." Ritsuko said trying to snap some sense into her, "Well considering we don't actually know where he is at the moment, you know what he's like. The entire time we were in NERV I think he only left that office twice.", "Its as if he's glued to the seat.".

Veronica just stared at them, utterly confused at to what it was they were talking about, until she waved her hand at them, "Um, Hi. Care to fill me in about what your talking about?", "Oh Ritsuko, Rei, Misato and Yui are from an alternate dimension along with Shinji, Asuka and the people we're having dinner with, oh and Fuyutski as well." Saki explained as if it was a ordinary thing to talk about in a conversation. "As strange as that is to hear… I actually believe it. Given what I've seen recently.".

"Good. Lets eat." Yui declared, happy that she didn't have to go through their entire life story to get the facts straight, turning on her heel she headed towards the noodle house where Maya and the others were waiting for them, Misato smirked at Ritsuko at the mention of getting something to eat.

* * *

Shinji kicked away the last demon that had attacked them, after reaching the final platform they had been attacked by similar small demons along with, of all things, dancing fortune sticks which Yuri took much pleasure in snapping them into firewood, "This is a bloody nightmare!" he shouted throwing the demon over the side of the platform into the mist below.

"No arguments here." Karin said trying to catch her breath, "They came out of nowhere.", "At least we made it to the temple, if that's a good think." Lucia said fanning herself with her bladed fan, "Should be, because that's where the bad guy is that's controlling this place.", "Can you be sure?" Anastasia asked, "As we've gotten closer I could feel it.".

"What are we dealing with?" Asuka asked, "Powerful, evil. The usual." he chuckled to Yuri who he bumped fists with, "Demon hunters first." he replied, "Kurando. Your up front with us, we're going to be taking this thing out as quick as possible." the young man nodded, he had been thinking that he would be treated differently after what had happened earlier but Shinji and Yuri had just laughed it off.

Garan the Ying and Yang master was slightly surprised to see the group of lower beings appear in the courtyard of the temple, he had expected them to die in the maze either by starvation, by wondering around aimlessly or at hands of the demons and monsters that had been summoned along with the maze.

"I take it that you're the one that has caused this mess?" Shinji asked trying to sound polite but was having trouble keeping himself from laughing at the sight of the small man floating on a throw pillow, "Hey where did you get that?" Yuri said pointing to the pillow, "That would be great to have, my back wouldn't hurt so much anymore.", "You're an idiot Yuri." Asuka said from the rear only for Karin and the girls to giggle behind them.

"Enough! Your mockery will only last for so long. My magic is as powerful as I am wise.", "Well considering we don't know who you are, saying that is rather pointless." Asuka continued as she folded her arms.

"How dare you!? I'll teach you to show respect!", "What makes you think we even care?" Shinji lashed out with a half hearted A.T blast which Garan managed to block it at the last moment, "Does it look like we do?" Shinji felt a spike of power before he was thrown back several feet as a ball of light impacted his chest, "Shinji!", "Are you alright?" Kurando asked moving in-between Shinji and Garan.

"I'm fine, just caught me off guard." he said getting his breath back, "I'm through with talking, Yuri?", "Yeah. When we beat him can I have that pillow?" everyone shook their heads at his strange new fixation, "Whatever…" Shinji said as he expanded his A.T field and got ready for what ever the little dried out man could through at them.

"On second thought!" lowering his field quickly he let loose a cross-blast right on top of Garan before he threw his A.T field back up, the light blue cross of light shot up around fourteen feet into the air and stayed for a few moments before disappearing, "What was that!?" Lucia and Garan said at the same time, "Power of the Angels…" Asuka said knowingly as she drew her sword.

"Lucia, Anastasia stay behind us alright?" Karin said drawing her sword as she kept her eyes on Garan in case he attacked suddenly, "Kurando, don't try and do anything with your fusion. I'd rather not risk having you go berserk again." Shinji said with a teasing tone as Garan started chanting something.

Yuri didn't have much time to move as a large flurry of icicles slammed into him and nearly pushed him off the edge of the platform, Shinji heard a long howl and had almost forgotten that Blanca was with them, he looked up and saw phantom wolves soaring out of the sky and impacting the floating mage in retaliation for the attack on Yuri.

Flicking out her bladed fan, Lucia cast a arcing barrier spell on everyone hoping it would have enough of an effect to lessen the effects of the magic being cast by Garan, she followed it up with a low level dark element beam as Anastasia let out one of her photographs containing a swarm of giant cockroaches, which poured out of the small photograph and enveloped Garan before disappearing.

The triple attack had some effect but it was clear that Garan wasn't going to be so easily defeated as he seemed to just laugh off the powerful assault.

Before Kurando, Shinji and Yuri could attack they saw a strange purple and red seal appear beneath them, but it was Lucia who realised what it was, "Get out the way!" they didn't make it as they watched a giant white spectre rise out the seal and hit the three of them with enough force to flip them into the air by several feet. Landing heavily they where able to pull themselves upright before his next attack hit, which they were able to dodge in time.

"Let's not get hit by that again… or ever." Shinji warned them as they kept their spacing, "That wrinkly old baby is tougher then he looks." Yuri said as he checked his shoulder joints, "That is merely his magic, without it he's as weak as he looks." Kurando added as he took a swordsman's stance even though his arm was bleeding. Shinji reeled back his first and let out his A.T field which was the same size of a tree trunk and tried to ram it down Garan's throat.

Garan couldn't defend against such a strange ability as it slammed him across the courtyard and into the temple wall, "Take that!" he shouted in triumph as Asuka and Karin followed up with their attacks, Karin sent a column of flame into the wreckage as Asuka quickly followed the column and rapidly stabbed through the smoke hoping to add to the damage done by Shinji.

Yuri wasn't going to back off as everyone had attacked he ran forwards and lashed out with a heavy kick at Garan as he floated out of the ruined wall and smoke, "You fools!…" he was cut off as the kick connected and sent him back into the wall, "Got you!" he cheered as another ball of light magic connected with him, however the barrier Lucia had put up earlier dampened the effects of the spell and he was able to stay on his feet.

"Just give up baby head! We're not going to give up until we beat you!" Yuri said with a small grin as he began to walk towards Garan with Kurando just behind him as he was going to keep his sword ready, "Kurando now." he muttered as the young samurai dashed forward and delivered a series of slashes and cuts to Garan as he was occupied with Yuri.

As Kurando moved back Yuri stepped in and delivered a powerful uppercut which sent Garan up into the air with enough room for Shinji to do a finisher, the A.T cannon slammed into him sending him to the far side of the platform.

"You give up now?" Shinji panted, a little worn out after the maze and the fight, "You win this time but we'll meet again. And next time I will crush you!" Garan ascended into the sky and faded away, "He got away…" Kurando said as he sheathed his sword, "It's a shame… I didn't get to ask where he got that pillow." Yuri said as everyone gave a small chuckle as the mist around them along with the whole maze began to fade away.

Looking around they found themselves standing in the foreigners cemetery once again, in the exact same spot they started in. "What the hell? Weren't we just in a temple a minute ago?", "I don't know how this sort of thing works…" Shinji said tiredly as he looked around to make sure everyone was still accounted for.

"Come on lets just pay our respects and go home." Shinji headed into the cemetery as if the whole ordeal hadn't happened, which impressed some of the ladies that he was able to shrug off even mentally taxing ordeals.

* * *

Yui and the others arrived at Maya's ramen shop, making Misato and Saki take bets on how Maya was going to react upon seeing her Sensei Ritsuko. It was something Misato was going to enjoy watching, she had always known that something had been going on between Maya and Ritsuko but had never been able to prove it. Until now.

Misato couldn't stop smiling as they entered the shop, and saw Maya waiting for them and guided them over to an empty table, she had been tempted to close the store just for them but they needed to keep the money rolling in so they could keep it.

"Maya. How are you?", "I'm good Yui-san." she said bowing, "I've said that you don't have to be formal with me, besides you should save that for our other guest." everyone stepped aside to reveal Ritsuko, "Hello Maya… I'm glad your…" she didn't get to finish as Maya rushed over and hugged her, as she bawled into her chest. "Sensei! Your alive!" Ritsuko was getting embarrassed as Maya kept crying into her chest and was at a loss for what to say to her, it was when Misato made a hugging motion that she did something, of course she ignored the kissing face she was making as well.

"I'm glad your alright Maya. Come on lets eat, I think we've got some catching up to do." Yui and Saki made series of giggles as Rei walked past them and sat down next to Veronica, who was looking bored as Aoba and Hyuga sat down with them.

"I must say I'm surprised to see you again Rei, glad but surprised." Aoba said, "I'm also glad to see that you are all well, how have you been?" both men when surprised again as it was the most they had even heard her say in a sentence, "Well I have to admit it's a little sad not having my guitar anymore, I'm still trying to find one over here but its hard.", "How about you Hyuga-san?", "I'm fine, guess I'm still trying to adjust to all of this.".

"Are you from this alternate world as well then?" Veronica asked as she made herself comfortable, "Y-yes. We all worked together." Hyuga said still taken back by the European beauty in front on him, "Well, you might have to indulge me sometime." she said with a charming smile, "W-well there isn't much to say, I was a technician but now I'm a mere noodle maker." he said with a small grin.

"Noodle makers aren't meant to be this cute though." Hyuga blushed slightly as Aoba couldn't help but wonder why he always went after women with large chests, "Rei… are you still a vegetarian?" Misato called from the counter, "Yes.", "Alright Maya no meat in Rei's bowl!" Misato shouted as she, Yui, Saki and Maya served up the Ramen.

"So…" Ritsuko started not actually knowing what she was going to say, "Hold on Ritzy! I want to make a toast!" Misato said lifting up a small bottle of sake she had taken from the kitchen, "Here is to my new friends, old friends and of course my new sister." Misato said giving out a delighted squeal, "May our new lives bring nothing but happiness." everyone cheered at the toast.

"What were you saying Ritz?", "How does Shinji put up with you?" everyone chuckled as they tucked into their Ramen bowls, "Because he loves me and I love him." she answered proudly.

After eating they sat around and chatted as Maya and the others tended to the new customers that entered, Veronica had excused herself and went to get some fresh air but Rei had noticed the look of sadness on her face as she hurried out the shop. "Excuse me." she headed out and saw Veronica standing away from the windows, "Is something wrong Miss Veronica?", "It's nothing dear… actually it is. This is the first time in a long time were people have actually accepted me for me and not my position and power. It just feels nice…" she felt her eyes welling up.

"I have been in a somewhat similar position. Back in our own time, I was controlled both physically and mentally. I was void of any emotion and was kept at a distance from anyone, but Shinji was the only one to reach out successfully to me." Rei explained, "After that moment I promised myself that I'd do anything I could to make him be at peace.", "Why's that?". "At first he was my friend, but now we are a family. That's as simple as I can put it.".

Veronica thought it over and it did make sense to her, if Misato and everyone was making an effort to be friends with her then she had no reason to stay away from them, but after leaving Rasputin's control she had nothing and no one to build a future with, which was something she really wanted.

"You shouldn't worry Miss Veronica I am sure that you will be fine. You are a smart and attractive woman after all, and you can take care of yourself." Veronica blushed at being called attractive by another woman, it was something that happened rarely to her and even though she was able to deal with men, dealing with women was different. "Rei… thank you." wrapping up the blue haired woman in a hug she was unable to see the blush forming on her face, as it was buried in her cleavage, she felt her tapping on her back and she let her go, "Sorry Rei… guess I got a little carried away.", "That's fine… shall we go back inside?".

* * *

Shinji and Yuri clapped and bowed to Lt. Suketani's grave, they owed the man a lot and would make sure that the grave was well cared for, without him they would never of been able to save Alice or stop Dehuai.

"Rest in peace…" turning to the others with a tired smile he thanked them for waiting, "Well that took longer then I wanted it to take, but thank you all for waiting. I'm sure the Lieutenant would be grateful.", "What sort of man was he?" Lucia asked only for him to shrug, "Ask Kato or Yoshiko that one. I only know that he gave his life to help those two and us, can't ask more then that." Yuri answered for Shinji who was looking a little tired.

"Hey Shinji, are you alright?" Asuka asked as she watched Shinji lean against a tree, "Just feeling a little tired, I think I'm going to head home now and get some sleep." he started to walk out of the cemetery but suddenly vanished into thin air. "Shinji!" Asuka shouted as everyone began searching for him, "Did you see what happened?", "He just vanished into his own shadow…" Karin trailed off as she saw Asuka's face, "Asuka?". "It can't be… It couldn't of come through with us?" she panicked.

Little did she know that nothing had come through with them.

* * *

Shinji was currently wondering why he was laying face first in his bed, when he was walking through the cemetery in the city just a second before. "What the hell was that?" looking up he saw it was actually his bedroom and not just a dream, "How did I get here?" walking downstairs he saw Zhuzhen sitting at the table drinking tea, he looked surprised when he walked in.

"Shinji? When did you get in?", "Just a second ago… literally." the old sage gave him an odd look, "Alright…", "A few seconds ago I was in the cemetery at the Lieutenants grave and as I was walking out I fell through my shadow and landed in my bed.", "Well that certainly is strange… what do you think it means?", "Guess I'm still changing, hopefully this is the last thing that I get.".

He then realised what could be going on back at the cemetery. "Oh hell… everyone must be panicking at me just disappearing like that." he groaned, sitting at the table, "Don't worry Saki knows your safe so if their smart they'll head straight for the city and find her, and then problem solved.", "I hope your right… Yuri and Asuka aren't known for thinking clearly at times. Just hope Karin can help them keep they're heads on their shoulders.".

Resting his head on the table he decided to sleep there instead of walking back up the stairs.

* * *

There we go hope you enjoy it.


	17. Chap 17: Check Up and The Queens Garden

Garan studied Gendo closely, he had been surprised when the man had appeared and taken over the whole research and development department and had even begun reaching into the military itself. He knew he would have to be careful even though he was not a demon like the others he had encountered in the maze, and couldn't use magic he was a talented fighter along with being unreadable and intelligent, which was just as deadly.

"So? What does the mystic want with me?" he asked as Garan floated in front of him, "I thought you thought of me as a lower life form?", "You are, but that doesn't mean I should turn my back on you." neither man was surprised that the other didn't trust him, but at least they knew that much. "None the less I have encountered your so called son and his friends and I will say that you should watch yourself and your actions. The military command are getting curious at what your planning with that Russian Demon, quite interesting specimen actually, not to mention Dr. Hojo's rather sudden disappearance.".

"Please don't try to bait me, its insulting. Dr. Hojo was a fool who never paid attention to his surroundings. That's why his ridiculous robot went out of control and killed him.", "True but I'd wager that it had some assistance in that matter.", "I don't know what you mean." Gendo said emotionlessly as he sat back in his chair, his bullet wounds were healing nicely. He would have to make sure to put twice as many into that bitch Akagi when he next saw her.

He was interrupted from talking to Garan when one of his spies hobbled in with his foot wrapped up in bandages and a nasty bruise forming on his jaw. "Sir… we encountered the target but… we were attacked.", "By who?", "A purple haired woman with a gun and a blonde European woman with a whip." Gendo rose from his chair and ordered the man to get out, which he quickly did. "Nearly lost your temper didn't you?" Garan teased, "That meant you as well mystic." he knew that he would have to talk with Gendo again so he faded away to leave the egotistical man to his thoughts.

"So Katsuragi is with them as well… I wonder…?" he sat back in his chair and began to think on how this could effect his plans.

* * *

Misato wondered why Saki seemed to space out for a moment before coming back around, "What's wrong?", "Shinji seems to of developed a new ability… he's just appeared back home.", "From the cemetery? Well… as long as he's okay I guess there's nothing to worry about.", "He's just tired and he's sleeping it off.", "Hooray for Shinji then." Yui said with a proud smile.

"You'd be proud of him for doing anything Yui." Misato said as she finished off her Sake, "Of course he's my son, and I'm making up for lost time of course." everyone listened to the rant between the two women before descending into small talk among themselves.

Veronica looked at Hyuga and saw that he was kind of cute, she had picked up on the fact that Aoba and Maya had began dating shortly after they brought the noodle shop and it had all gone well, she also found out that he had somewhat of a crush on Misato but that was gone now and he was free. But then there was Rei, in her opinion she was the sort of girl that she would gladly swap teams for, she was interesting to say the least and she was a true beauty in every sense of the word, however her personality was a blank slate.

She honestly didn't know what to think as she ate her noodles, she would have to think about it, she wasn't going to rush things. She had all the time in the world to look for someone and her place in it.

"So Veronica? What are you going to do now?" Saki asked as she continued to watch Misato and Yui argue over Shinji, "I don't know really, I guess I'll stick around for a little bit if that's alright? I don't want to impose.", "Nonsense, you helped my little Yuri-kun and that's more then entitled you to stay, that and you defended Yui. I'm sure you'll find yourself again in time… tell you what how about you help us with Rei?" Veronica stared at her with a blank expression.

"She's only just started feeling emotions again, she'll need all the help she can get.", "Your asking me? A former dominatrix, and sorceress to help with the young ladies emotions?" Saki suddenly realised it did seem rather an odd thing to say, "I'd love to help.", "Really? That's great.", "It'd be nice to help her, I'll admit I'm rather taken with her. She's one in a million.".

Saki looked past Veronica and saw Hyuga blushing, clearly he had heard about Veronica's past job, who knows what was going through his mind.

"Saki!" Yuri burst through the doors to the noodle house with a panicked expression, "Shinji's fine Yuri, he's back at the house." Saki said calmly, "He's developed another ability.", "Well that's great…" Yuri hit a wall with words as they failed to form in his mouth, "Great you broke him." Misato chuckled.  
"Well as long as he's alright… but that gave us quite a fright the way he just disappeared like that." Asuka said, "He's just tired Asuka, a good nights sleep and he'll be back to normal before you know it.".

Once Yuri's mind had restarted he was surprised to see Roger walk in several minutes later, "Yuri I need to speak with you, its important.", "Sure what is it?" he waved him over to the far side of the shop, away from prying ears. "I've finished repairs to the Bacon Jet. I'm ready to take you to the Queens Garden for the crystal we need. Are you still willing to do it?" Yuri was silent for a moment, looking back at the others who were all laughing and talking with each other."What about them?" Roger asked only for Yuri to shake his head, "This is something I have to do, they don't have to come.", "They're your friends Yuri, are you sure?" Yuri nodded and followed Roger back to the tables.

"Everyone. I'm heading off with Roger for a day or two, nothing to worry about though.", "Where?", "Nowhere." Veronica stood up and walked over to him, "Your going to get the crystal aren't you?" she whispered to him but he stayed silent, "I'll go with you, make sure you don't get into trouble." the look she gave him meant he didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

"Thanks…", "Don't mention it. I'm happy to help." she turned to Roger, "Which way to that damn Jet of yours old man?", "I'm not old and don't curse at my Jet! It's a work of art.", "Sure. So why did it crash?" Roger walked off mumbling to himself about crashing the Jet as Veronica and Yuri followed.

"Where is he going? Why aren't we going with him?" Karin asked getting up to leave only to be stopped by Misato, "Don't Karin… This is something that weighs heavily on him.", "It's true, it's something he's chosen to do along because he knows he doesn't know how it will turn out." Yui said as Saki agreed, "And if that isn't enough to convince you then I forbid you to leave until he returns." Saki said with a rare serious voice.

"But why?", "He lost the love of his life to an illness and he has been suffering in silence ever since." Yui said, "We all miss her Karin, and we'd do anything to have her back.", "Apart from using that book…" Saki said with the same serious tone as before, "And Shinji's made it clear that the book is never to be used. I'll shoot Yuri if he even picks it up." Misato said as she looked over at Karin.

"I… I had no idea. Why didn't he say anything?", "Because he doesn't want to burden anyone else." Karin ate the rest of her noodles in silence, processing the revelation about Yuri.

* * *

Roger hadn't had the time to test the engines but he had been able to make all the correct repairs, he was surprised by the amount of damage done by a simple crash landing. Luckily there wasn't any damage to the hull itself or else it would cause a whole lot of problems.

"Are we ready?" he asked as he took his place at the cockpit, "As I'll ever be." Yuri mumbled, "Come Yuri, this is going to be great." Veronica said trying to put a smile back onto his face, "Talk to me. It's going to be a long flight isn't it?", "About what?", "Tell me about Alice." Yuri turned in his seat and looked at her to see if she was serious. She was.

"Shinji and I met her in China, she was being held by the army after being transported away by her father after he was killed in front of her.", "Who did it?", "Albert Simon or as he told us… Roger Bacon." Veronica pointed to the cockpit and he nodded, "We didn't find out about his real identity for over six months. But we beat him in the end…" Yuri remembered the day he and Alice stepped onto the train to Zurich to start their new life together, he wanted to live those days again.

"But Alice was always making people feel better around her, even me. Though I didn't really ask for it.", "Why?", "Because I was a demon hunter who had been alone for years until Shinji dropped into my life, literally. We both thought she was beautiful but it wasn't until after I went missing for six months that I started realising my feelings for her. She had been looking for me for all that time…".

"Well that's good enough isn't it? She seems like a real catch, lets go get that crystal Yuri my boy.", "Are you sure your not related to Margarete?" Yuri asked curious as to the truth behind the possible link to the two women but she just shook her head and laughed at him as they headed for Scotland.

* * *

Misato hurried upstairs once they got home and found Shinji fast asleep on their bed still wearing the clothes he had been wearing when he left that morning. "What am I going to do with you?" she wondered aloud as she rested her hands on her hips, "Funny how we're reversing roles isn't it?" careful not to wake him she began to pull his coat and pants off and put him under the covers.

Sitting on the edge of the bed she rested her hand on his sleeping head and ran her fingers through his hair, "Sometimes… I dream of going back home Shinji. Back to Tokyo-3, but without the Angels. I never told you this but I always wanted to be a teacher, funny isn't it? Me a teacher?" Misato said to the love of her life, "But NERV happened along with the Angels… but as long as I have you, and Arisu then I'm home and nothing will change that." kissing him on the cheek she left him to his sleep and went to check on Arisu. Only to bump into Yui on the way out.

"How much did you hear?" she mumbled trying, and failing, to hold back a blush, "I'm hurt that you didn't count me in your idea of home." Yui giggled softly as she headed for the stairs, "Do not breathe a word of this to anyone Yui, I mean it.", "Why? Being a teacher is a noble profession, and it wouldn't hurt to do something besides sitting around here and going shopping every day.". Yui thought about it deeply for a moment before snapping her fingers, "Why don't you help teach the village children? Start off small and who knows where it could go?".

Misato knew that the current woman teaching the children was getting on in her years and decided to go and talk to her once she had checked on her daughter. "You know what? I'll do just that." Yui giggled as Misato strode off in confidence, "I'm really surprised no one has picked up on how devious I am." she said to herself as she followed her downstairs, "Gendo isn't the only one with a scenario." giggling to herself she followed Misato to her grand-daughter.

* * *

Yuri was jolted awake by the impact of the Jet landing, "We're here already?" he asked through a yawn. "Yes. The Queens Personal Garden. Long forgotten by the rest of the world. Are you ready?" getting to his feet Yuri nodded, "Are you ready Miss?" Veronica looked a little shaky as she still had very little magic abilities and would have a hard time using even simple spells.

"As I'll ever be… lets just hope that anything in there is either gone or asleep." she adjusted the grip on her whip for the fifth time since touching down outside the gardens, "Well lets just do a smash and grab if we have too, just don't hang about looking at the décor.", "Don't come back empty handed you two. I'll keep the engines warm." Roger said clearly not wanting to get his hands dirty after spending so much time repairing his Jet.

Stepping out they found themselves standing in a remains of a courtyard, over grown with moss and ivy, it had clearly seen better days. "Wow… this place is huge. How are we going to find a crystal the size of my hand in something this big?" Yuri asked Veronica who was looking a little unsure of the answer.

"I don't really know. All I do know is that its in here somewhere." she said as they headed for the front door, which Yuri managed to force open without making too much noise, "Remember, quiet." she whispered as they entered the dim torch lit lobby, the once mighty stone walls covered in moss and worn down from the elements.

Yuri suddenly got a flashback of the dollhouse he and Shinji had been dragged through by Alice on an exorcism, Veronica noticed him shudder and asked what was wrong, "Flashback of a haunted house back in France. This reminds me of that place.", "Well lets hope we don't run into anything." heading right along a curving corridor they saw nothing but unlit torches and cobwebs. Which to them looked promising.

Reaching a double door at the end they tried not to groan loudly in frustration as they doubled back to try the other corridor only to see that the corridor was exactly the same in terms of the remains of the banners which hung on the walls.

Both were happy to find the left door unlocked and opened into a round room with another two double doors, which left them with something they didn't want to say, "Don't say lets spilt up." Veronica said as she walked over to the door on the right, "Fine, you seem to know where your going anyway." he said with a smirk. Opening the door they found themselves looking at a bedroom with a study, or at least that's what they saw through the mess that littered the room.

"Looks like the aftermath of Shinji's first birthday party with me…", "That bad?" Yuri shook his head, "Worse.".

A chess set sat on a small wooden table which was untouched in the mess littering the rest of the room, "I'm starting to get the feeling that getting the crystal isn't going to be as easy as opening a few doors.", "Why do you think that?" Yuri asked, "The man who designed this place was… odd to say the least. He was obsessed with chess and may of used it as a basis for some of his most complex locks." Veronica explained as Yuri let out a long sigh.

"I should of paid more attention to Shinji and the old man. They used to play when we were traveling together, well at least when we were in a town.", "Well believe it or not I know a thing or two about it so at least we wont be completely clueless." Yuri couldn't help but chuckle at how she sounded, "You sound so much like Margarete." knowing that Yuri wasn't going to be much help in unlocking any secret locks that maybe around she looked over the board and realized that it was only half of one.

"There's a piece missing. If we find that then that might unlock something… Why are you looking at me like that?" Veronica asked as she saw the look Yuri was giving her, "Because you sound like a crazy person. Its just half a chess board, lift it up. I bet its not even connected to the table." Veronica tried to lift it and saw it was actually part of the table, it had been craved out when it had been made. "You were saying?" she said smugly as he looked over the board and suddenly pressed a random square as they soon heard cogs and gears in the wall turning and heard something unlock where they had just been.

"If something looks simple chances are it is." Yuri said taking one last look around the room for anything of use, "Your smarter then you let on aren't you?", "Not really. I'm the sort to deal with things head on rather then think about it." the words rang true as it was exactly what he was doing at the moment. "Come on lets find that crystal before the old man gets impatient and leaves." Veronica said as if reading his mind.

* * *

Roger sat in the cockpit of the Jet going over some of the information he had on the ritual he was soon going to be performing, which wasn't a lot. What he did know was that with the crystal alone it would be even less of a chance since they were not going to be using the Manuscript out of respect to everyone they knew, he gave it a fifteen percent chance of working, not that he would openly tell Yuri the actual odds, he didn't want to ruin the mans hope.

Part of the ritual hinged on the fact that Alice's soul wanted to come back, if she didn't then the ritual would fail straight away, the only positive fact about the ritual they were doing would be that there wouldn't be any negative feedback from the crystal so they would be entirely safe from harm.

"Alice my dear… I'm so sorry for doing this to you. Your resting in peace and I'm pulling you back. But its for a reason…" Roger looked up at the overcast sky outside the cockpit window, "He misses you… we all do. And while he wont say anything it pains him every day that your not by his side. I only hope you can forgive me." with a sorrowful sigh he went back to his checking his research, not noticing the break in the clouds which let the suns light through.

* * *

Veronica slammed the door shut after Yuri had dove through the opening, the sound of something hitting the door and the door itself shuddering under the impact made her wince. "So much for this place being empty eh?" Yuri said with a smirk, his wrist blades were covered in dark blood from the small monsters which had ambushed them in the room they had unlocked and followed them to the door they had barely able to open in time.

"Funny. But we have to go back that way." she pointed out as she looked around the giant hall they were now in. Two sets of stone pillars lead towards an large multi-platform stone alter with a red carpet covering the way. Several large stained glass windows where in front of them beyond the alter with several small normal windows behind the pillars to their sides.

"But at least we found it." she smiled as she pointed to the small hand sized purple crystal sitting atop the alter, "Come on that door wont last for ever." Yuri said hurrying forwards to grab the crystal, the impacts on the door behind them becoming stronger and stronger, "Where though?", "Through the window." grabbing the crystal and the wooden platform it was sat on he launched it through the normal window closest to them.

"Go!" passing the crystal to her he lifted Veronica up to the window as she was able to drop out the other side just as the doors broke open and the child sized monsters poured in. "Yuri!", "Get the crystal to Roger and tell him to warm the engines up. I'll be fine!" she heard Yuri groan in pain before she heard a deep bone shaking roar, something she had heard before. Amon.

Yuri dove through the swarm of monsters, with kicks and swipes of his claws he sent bodies crashing to the ground and limbs and blood across the walls as he made his way to the front door to meet up with Roger and Veronica. He wasn't in the mood to deal with the fodder trying to chew their way through his rock like skin.

* * *

Veronica didn't waste any time in hanging around to think about her options, she ran and had wished she had worn a different pair of boots, running in platform stilettos wasn't exactly an easy task. Following the wall of the garden around to where they had entered it didn't take her long to reach Roger and his Jet, "Roger! Open up!" the distress in her voice was clear as she hammered on the metal door, "What is it? Where's Yuri?" he got his answer as they heard another deep roar coming from within the Queen's garden.

"Get inside." not wasting anytime she set the crystal down in a container so it wouldn't shatter when they took off, but it was then that see noticed that Roger had already begun to start the engines for lift off. "What are you doing!? Yuri's still in there!", "I know. But he can fly where I'm guess the monsters can't, correct?" Roger brought the Jet to a hover ten feet above the ground, "He'll be able to get inside…" he was interrupted by the main doors to the ruin being blasted off by a powerful blast of magic along with several desecrated remains of the monsters that had been caught by it.

Looking up at the Jet, Amon seemed to just jump up to the open door and grabbed the edges with his clawed hands, before reverting back to Yuri. "Well that was interesting!" he called over the roar of the engines as he pulled the door closed, "Roger… head for Wales." he said as he collapsed in a chair, the fusion had exhausted him and wished he could get rid of the remains of the damn curse which was still in his soul.

"Is it intact?" he asked Veronica who sat down next to him, "Yes… that was pretty reckless of you to do that Yuri. Who knows what might have been in there? What if it hadn't of just been those annoying little monsters? Going at it alone was reckless." she crossed her arms as she looked away from him.

"Since when have you started caring about my well being?" he asked surprised at her change of attitude, but he was met with silence for a number of minutes before she answered, "You saved my life, stopped me from making a huge mistake. I'm grateful for that and will try and repay it someday but… I guess its just down to being part of something bigger then myself that I don't want to see any of that taken away so soon after getting it.".

"If you had said that after I first met you, I wouldn't of believed it. But now I do… But saying that, taking risks was something that actually kept me alive through the years, just ask Shinji. Some were stupid, some were just plain insane. But I'm still alive." the word 'alive' sounded hollow to him without Alice being with him.

Even though they had known each other for less then two years and had been together for less then one but she had impacted his life so much over such a short time, he had even agreed to wait until they got married to… become closer.

"Yuri do yourself a favour… stop thinking about her for the moment and get some sleep. Your not doing her or yourself any favours pushing yourself like this.", "I slept on the way here…", "No you didn't. You got maybe an hour before you faked the rest. Trust me I can tell." she said with a small smirk, "I bet you can." they both laughed weakly as silence fell between them.

At least before she spoke up again. "I miss him…", "Who?", "Lenny. He was the closest person I could call a friend, and he was actually a lot smart then he looked. And more then he acted.", "Really?" Veronica nodded, brushing some stray hair behind her ear, "Oh yes. When it came to Mathematics, I doubted there was anyone better. He was also very good with languages, picked up on many European dialects very quickly over the years we worked together.".

Yuri was surprised and was drifting towards not actually believing her after how easily he had managed to get some answers out of the huge man when they had their first encounter in Wales, "Are we talking about the same guy?", "I agree he had his lapses in judgement but he was very smart. It's a shame what he decided to do instead…" she fell silent after remembering the news of Lenny taking his own life instead of surrendering.

Arriving in Wales within an hour they touched down just outside his strange home, "It shouldn't take much longer to start preparing the ritual once we're inside." Roger said picking up the crystal, "Miss, I'll have to ask you to wait outside once we start. Only Yuri can be inside. Everything must be done correctly for this to work." Veronica nodded in understanding, she wasn't going to get in anyone's way after seeing Yuri's friends and the power they had.

* * *

When Shinji finally woke up he saw it was morning, thinking that he had only been asleep for a few minutes but when he saw that the people going around the morning routines he was surprised to find out that he had been asleep for a whole day. "Why was I out for so long?" he was surprised to find that he was also missing his pants, "I hope I didn't miss anything good…".

Looking at the time he decided to get breakfast as he headed downstairs, after putting some pants on.

"Well look who's finally awake?" Zhuzhen said with a smile, "Look who's decided to move in." Shinji teased as he poured himself some tea and grabbed some toast, "I wasn't expecting to be asleep that long, what did I miss?" Zhuzhen went through the minor goings on around the village, "And Yuri's gone to get that crystal." Shinji coked on his drink.

"He's done what!? He's gone alone!?", "No Veronica is with him.", "You do know she doesn't have any magic, right? She's powerless you know, all she has is that whip.", "Ah… I wish that I had known that before they left or I had bloody gone with them." Zhuzhen said looking rather unsettled at the realization that no one had any magic.

"Roger hasn't done any fighting for years so he's out of the picture. Oh god…" Shinji wasn't enjoying his start to the day, he had already missed one and now his best friend was pretty much doing one of the more reckless things he had known him to do.

"Saki! I'll ask Saki, where is she?" Shinji began hurrying around the house much to Zhuzhen's amusement, "Shinji, she's with Misato in the village." he saw him dart past the kitchen and heard the front door slam shut, "It's always entertaining around here." he chuckled as he continued his tea.

Shinji jogged down towards the village trying to find out about Yuri before he completely lost his mind. "Saki!" he called out repeatedly as he jogged past the buildings until he passed the one used for the children with their school work, "What's wrong Shinji!?" she asked coming out of the doorway, "Yuri! Do you know what's happened to Yuri?", "He's fine Shinji, just had a close call that's all. Do you honestly think I'd let my nephew go into danger like that?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "I… I guess not… sorry." Shinji said looking rather sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head, "That's alright Shinji-kun, now come on in. I've got something to show you." Shinji didn't know what to say when she grinned at him.

"What's going on?" he asked walking into the school house, "Oh! Class you all know Shinji-kun, my husband. Say hello class." Misato said with a cheerful smile as the village children greeted him with happy voices, he was a little surprised, "Okay… What's going on?" he asked again, "Misato has taken over as the village teacher. It was time that Chiyo was allowed to have some peace, so Misato decided to take over." Shinji honestly didn't know what to say.

He had thought it was a good idea but didn't exactly know what she could teach to children who were four to six years old, but he wisely decided to keep his mouth shut on the matter. "Are you sure Misato?", "Of course, I have a lot I can teach these children." Shinji couldn't hide the snort and sworn he heard Saki stifle a giggle as well, "The history of beer and military tactics isn't really something a child has to know." he said loosing his composure and breaking out in laughter, "What about English? Geography? Basic Maths?" she said pouting at Shinji, "Okay, okay. I'd forgotten about that alright. I'm sorry." Shinji said walking over and hugging her, "Really am sorry." he nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck and kissed her smooth skin, "Shinji… children." she warned before things got too out of hand.

But the children just giggled among themselves and made kissing faces at the two adults in front of them, "Alright that's enough you two." Saki said clapping her hands, "Misato's got a job to do and you Mister, Takeo wants to see you. Said you order was finished.", "I'd almost forgotten about that." Shinji said popping his head up from Misato's neck.

"See you later." giving her one last kiss he bowed to the children and headed to the village blacksmith.

Takeo was on the outside a grizzly bear of a man, but everyone knew was a big softy at heart, his trademark was his long thin beard which he had tied together at the end, in his mid fifties he was one of the older inhabitants of the village but also one of the most respected.

"Takeo-san?" Shinji called out as he entered the darkened room of Takeo's workshop, "I heard my orders ready?" he suddenly felt someone breathing down his neck and turned to see a hideous Noh mask glaring back at him, "Your soul…." a deep voice wailed ringing out from under the mask, "Takeo? Really…?" Shinji said keeping a straight face.

Why he was respected was beyond Shinji as he was one of the worst practical jokers he had ever met.

"Damn it…" Takeo mumbled taking off his mask, "I thought I'd get you for sure that time.", "There was nothing different Takeo, all you did was add a mask. Now… my order?" he asked hopefully, wanting to get out of there before he made anymore bad jokes.

"Yeah its ready. Bit of an odd order but I was happy to do something different at last, making the usual stuff was getting a little boring.", "I'm sure it isn't, but lets have a look at it." Takeo walked into the back and brought out a small bundle of rags wrapped around something.

"I could if used normal steel but I went for something a little better." unwrapping the bundle, Shinji couldn't only stare in awe at the two gauntlets he had asked for, "Jewel Steel, little bit more expensive but I'll let it slide just this once." the gauntlets had the same mirror like shine as Kurando's katana and he knew why.

Jewel Steel was the same used in the making of swords in the traditional manner using the old ways, it was honour for Shinji to have the gauntlets made out of the same material.

They were a simple design with a few flares to match the quality of the steel. They covered his hands and forearms with several plates overlapping like those of a snake or as Takeo mentioned a dragon. A single plate hung over his knuckles on fine crimson cord holding it to the padded glove beneath the metal. "I think the dragon design is a little much for me…", "Nonsense! You've helped protect our village since your arrival, with the spirit and ferocity of a great dragon. It suits you, trust me." a spine design went down the centre ending behind the knuckles were horns and eyes were engraved, Shinji had to admit they did look really good.

"Try them on." Takeo urged trying not to sound like an excited child, Shinji didn't believe a smile could go that wide as the gauntlets felt like a second skin on him, "Their prefect… Thank you so much Takeo." Shinji bowed to the blacksmith who pulled him back upright, "None of that. I'm not one for formalities, remember?" looking back at his forge he smiled softly, "Just remember where they came from. A lot of sweat and hard work went into those, remember that and they will never fail you.", "I won't… And thank you again Takeo-san." shaking the mans hand he stepped out of the stuffy and hot workshop.

Takeo just chuckled as he watched Shinji leave, "I've still got it." doing a little happy dance he went back to the forge.

Shinji walked over to the training area straight away to try out his new weapons, he hoped that it wouldn't effect his ability to channel his A.T field or use the cross blast, even if he did it wouldn't bother him as he could still use them when it came down to just his fists. Throwing a few punches he found them to be perfectly balanced and didn't make him sluggish when it came to attacking, "Takeo you really outdid yourself with these." casting the weakest cross blast he could summon he found that it didn't damage the armoured gauntlets at all, quickly casting an A.T field he found that it was the same thing. "Prefect…" he said smiling to himself as he trained a little more with his new gift before heading back to the house.

* * *

Sorry if most of this seems like filler but the next chapter wont be. Just been really busy lately and its so annoying. If anyone went to the MCM expo in London at the end of May, how awesome it was.


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